


You Can't Be Afraid To Mix It Up Sometimes

by orphan_account



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cooking, Drama, F/F, Food, Food as a Metaphor for Love, POV First Person, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Some Humor, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:06:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of the 58th Annual National Culinary Championship, in which renowned chefs Korra, Asami, Mako, Kuvira and Kai all compete for the one thing they want most. And, Korra and Asami fall in love. Told in first person through Korra's eyes, lots of food porn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. And the Winner Is...

The suspense is hanging so thick in the air that I feel like I might collapse. My blood is doing that hyper pump thing where it’s all I can hear, pounding a steady beat in my head and threatening to explode out of my ears. Okay, that’s gross. I’m sorry. But I’m just so _nervous._  

My dad and uncle are moving up to the microphone now, and I spot the silver envelope in my dad’s hand. I’m looking at him but I know he won’t dare to look at me, or else he’ll probably break into a huge smile. Which would then mean that when I win – sorry, _IF_ , I win this competition, people will think it’s rigged or something. See, my dad is Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and my uncle is Chief of the North, so people already probably think I’m getting special treatment. But let me tell you. My food speaks for itself. I’m the best chef in the North and South Pole and this competition is gonna prove it. I hope.

 I bounce on the heels of my feet as my uncle steps up to the mic, clearing his throat. “Thank you everyone for coming today. The chefs have worked hard to make and present their best dishes to our panel of judges.” He nods to the front row, off to the right, where two culinary experts from each Tribe are seated. “But there can only be one moving on to Republic City for the National Culinary Championship to represent the element of Water. So without further ado…” My uncle motions to my dad, who leans toward the microphone as he tears open the envelope.

“And the winner of the 58th North and South Pole Regional Culinary Competition is…” he looks up at the crowd, teasing them with a sly smile. It’s a dangerous game to play – the tension in the auditorium is so taut that the people just might snap at any given moment, like strings pulled too tight for too long. My dad seems to pick up on this, because his smile disappears and he hurries it up.

“CHEF NUMBER TWO, KORRA OF THE SOUTHERN WATER TRIBE!!” And there goes the mic stand, knocked down as my dad whoops and leaps and does all that other stuff that parents do when their kid wins.

I’m hoisted in the air by my sous chefs, my cousins Desna and Eska. There’s a drum corps banging the hell out of their tiger seal skin drums, and the thunderous repetition rattles me to the bone.  The entire auditorium chants my name in unison. “ **KORRA! KORRA! KORRA**!” It sounds like a battle cry. Hearing my name like that, I swear, it’s my new favorite song. From my view I can see my mom waving her homemade sign in the air wildly, reading “NUMBER TWO IS NUMBER ONE!” I’m worried for a second, because I think she just almost took some guy’s eye out with her crazed movements.

I spot a few of the respected Tribe elders towards the front shedding tears, and it’s only then when I realize just how big this win really is. Today is the first time a Southern Water Tribe chef has won the competition in twenty years.

My feet are on the ground again as Desna and Eska push me towards the mic. My uncle shakes my hand and my dad wraps me in a huge hug, lifting me up and spinning me. “Great job, kiddo,” he says, wearing a smile even wider than the time he brought home an 800 pound tuna from a particularly lucky fishing trip.

“Thanks Dad,” I manage to get out, almost suffocated by his embrace. When he lets go (and I catch my breath), I bend down to pick up the mic that he knocked down. I clear my throat, and the audience quiets down, anticipating my words. Good thing I’m a horrible public speaker.

“Ahem…” I clear my throat way too loud, tapping the microphone harshly, and a loud **_SCREEECH_** fills the ears of everyone in attendance. I wince as they cringe, senses assaulted by my technological incapacity.

“Sorry. Sorry.” I back up a bit more so that I’m not too close to the mic.

“This is… _wow_. This is unbelievable. I can’t believe I’m going to Republic City!” I yell, pumping a fist in the air. The crowd joins in my enthusiasm, shouts of “YEAH!” and “DAMN RIGHT!” filling the air.

I chuckle to myself. “I’d like to thank the judges, for apparently really liking the clams I made, and also my mom, who taught me absolutely everything I know.” I smile as my mom clutches a handkerchief to her chest, eyes filling with tears.

“It’s an honor to be able to represent the element of Water, as well as the Southern Water Tribe, at Nationals. I promise I won’t let you down.” I smile, waiting for applause, but everyone is still silent, staring at me. Which is a problem, because I don’t really have anything else to say. I contemplate sprinting away but decide against it, so I step up to the mic one more time. “The end.” I say, before walking off stage, cheers erupting once again as I make my leave.

Funny that I chose to finish with that. I can tell this is a start of a new beginning.

* * *

 

When I finally make it through the sea of “congratulations” and handshaking indoors, I open the doors to the outside and find myself swept away in the current again as reporters shove microphones in my face, cameras popping and flashing in flurries.

“KORRA! KORRA OVER HERE!” A woman shoves her way up to me. “Can you tell us what inspired the winning dish, your now famous Red Curry Coconut Clams?”

I don’t ever mind talking about my food, so I’m happy to answer her question. “Sure thing. The flavors kind of just spoke to me themselves. I tend to work in opposites, so the idea of tempering the heat of the curry with the subtle sweetness of the coconut milk really appealed to me. I wanted to incorporate those flavors with something close to home, so the clams were a natural choice, dug fresh this morning from the shore. Together, I feel like the flavors brought out something special in the clams. I wanted the judges to be hit with nostalgia, but also taste the modernized notes, creating not just a dish, but an experience. And it worked. ”

I’m telling you, I turn into a damn connoisseur when I talk about food.

The reporters seem to be hanging on my every word, so I decide to tease them a bit.

“There is a secret ingredient though. I don’t know if I should tell you.”

“KORRA! CHEF KORRA!! TELL US, FOR THE VIEWERS AT HOME!!” Microphones are battling for a position in the front line, and cameras are so close to my face that I’m pretty sure my breath is fogging up the lenses.

“Just a little bit of…” I draw it out, feigning forgetfulness. “Hmm…oh yes. I remember now.”

I lean up to the reporter closest to me and whisper in her ear. “Lime zest.”

“IT’S LIME ZEST!” She screams, and I quickly make my exit as they explode over “Chef Korra’s Super Seriously Top Secret Ingredient”, as I heard a reporter so eloquently put it.

I turn the corner fast, bringing my fingers to my lips to whistle clear and shrill, blowing a tune that plays to only one polar bear dog’s heart. Right on cue, Naga bounds over to me, nudging me upright with her head as I’m nearly bowled over by her.

“Guess what girl? I won!” I say, laughing as she lets out a hearty howl before licking my face. “Thanks for being my taste tester.” I kiss the top of Naga’s head before hopping on her saddle, patting her side. “Let’s go home! I’ve got a batch of jerky waiting for ya.” That gets her going. She starts so abruptly that I almost fly off, but before long we’re at a fast but comfortable pace, trekking home. Usually a ride with Naga offsets my nerves, but today it feels like the calm before the storm. Shiro Shinobi is going to announce the other winners of the respective Regional Culinary Competitions live in a matter of minutes, and I’m itching to see who I’m up against.

I don’t have to wait long. Soon we’re home and I slide off Naga, running in quick to grab a piece of jerky to throw to her before settling inside. My parents are home already, our brand new but very small television on as loud as it could go. Future Industries had sent it to us a few weeks back, along with a handwritten note from Hiroshi Sato, founder and CEO of the company. I had only glanced over my dad’s shoulder for a moment to see what it said, but it was just a cordial “Chief Tonraq please accept this gift it’s a great way to stay updated with world news blah blah blah.”

It was a nice gesture and all, but I don’t think Hiroshi took in to consideration that we get really bad reception here in the South Pole. The screen flickers in and out most of the time, and the picture is almost always lined. Not that I’m a technology snob or anything. It was a gift, and I shouldn’t complain. Plus, everyone’s calling it a technological break-through for the ages. I read an article in the paper shortly after we received the gift about the television’s inception. How Hiroshi’s daughter, Asami Sato, had blown everyone’s mind with a surprise prototype at the last Republic City Technology Fair. Good for her. I can barely figure out how to radio someone, let alone build a freaking box that transmits video and signals and whatever.

I slip off my apron and peel off my bandana before I join my parents, huddling around the screen.

“Oh, Korra, you scared me!” My mom says, hugging me. “Where have you been?”

“I had to answer a few questions, shake hands, ya know, celebrity stuff,” I tease, nudging her lightly. “Any news on the other competitors yet?”

“Yes. Remember that bar I told you about from my last trip to Republic City?” my dad says.

I think. There are a lot of bars my father goes to when he’s in the City for council meetings.

“Um…which one?” I say. “There’s the one where they served you a Sokka Sake Cocktail but forgot the Cactus Juice, and then you flipped the table, or the one…”

My dad waves me off. “All right, all right. No, it was the really good one, the sports bar with the little animal that had the chef hat on. The Fire Ferrets! That’s it. Well, the head chef from there, I guess his name’s Mako; he’s going to Nationals to represent Fire.”

 I nod. “Any others?”

“Just Air,” my mom says. “His name’s Kai, and he has no professional training, just like you. He’s the favorite out of those announced so far, which would be you and Mako. They say his soufflés are the best in the world.”’

“We’ll see about that,” I grumble.

“EVERYBODY STOP, IT’S ON!” my dad yells, trying to crank the volume higher even though it’s already on full blast.

“Hello folks, it’s Shiro Shinobi broadcasting LIVE from Republic City at Future Industries Tower! I’m bringing you all the latest updates on the winners of the Regional Culinary Competitions in anticipation for the 58th National Culinary Championship! So far we’ve got three out of the five chefs locked in. Kai from the Earth Kingdom will be representing the element of Air!”

A picture appears on screen of a boy who looks really young. Probably 4 or 5 years younger than me, and I’m 21. He has dark green eyes and wears a cocky grin, his brown hair styled with a messy undercut. There are no accomplishments next to his picture; he’s an amateur. Best soufflés my ass. This kid probably got lucky. The broadcast continues as Kai’s picture fades.

“Mako from Republic City will be representing the element of Fire!” Mako’s picture, along with a list of achievements, shows up on the screen. I have to admit, he’s pretty damn cute. Spiky black hair and amber eyes with a killer jawline. He’s got skills too – Executive Chef at _The Fire Ferrets_ for the last five years, placed fourth in Regionals last year, and won the top prize at the Junior Chef competition at age 14. Very impressive. He’s definitely someone to watch, in more ways than one.

“Next is Korra from the Southern Water Tribe representing the element of Water!” My own picture fills the screen, and I can’t help but laugh. My arms are crossed and there’s a clear smirk on my face. I love it.

“Whoever that girl is, she doesn’t look like that great of a chef,” my dad mutters, winking at my mom. I roll my eyes before looking back at the television.

“We’re waiting on the results of the competition at the Earth Kingdom here. It might take some ti---“ Shinobi pauses as an attendant whispers something in his ear.

“THIS JUST IN! KUVIRA, RING LEADER IN THE ATTEMPTED COUP ON THE EARTH QUEEN, HAS CLINCHED A SPOT IN THE NATIONALS!”

I whistle, and my parents exchange uneasy glances. My dad has a bit of history with Kuvira. He had been very vocal in voting to put her away in prison for life at her trial for Treason before the Council, but he’d been outvoted and she got away with only two years. She’d recently got her sentence shortened because of “good behavior”, and now she was out of prison all together, apparently.

“This is an unprecedented turn of events! Never before has a criminal on parole been allowed to enter the competition, let alone win! Let’s see how things are looking in the Earth Kingdom!” Shinobi says, practically foaming at the mouth with the crazy news.

The screen splits in half, with Shinobi on the left side and a fuzzy view of Ba Sing Se’s Center for the Culinary Arts on the right. The right side of the screen is shaking pretty bad, and I’m pretty sure I can hear people yelling stuff about dirty criminals and rigged competitions. All of a sudden, the picture of the Culinary Arts Center disappears, and the camera seems to have fallen to the ground, so that all we can see is running feet.

Shinobi speaks. “Hello?”

He receives nothing in response, but I get the general feeling that people are not happy with Kuvira’s win over in Ba Sing Se. There’s muffled shouts and the sound of glass breaking. Whatever’s going on, it’s not good.

Shinobi looks uneasy. “Well, I guess we will have to disconnect---“

“You will do no such thing.” A woman’s face appears on the other half of the screen. She looks like tempered steel, all sharp angles and hard lines. Her voice is even but it’s dripping with anger. Yep, this is Kuvira.

“Ah,” Shinobi begins, “Kuvira. Congratulation on the win. How does it feel to be in the spotlight again so soon after your parole was granted? As a convicted criminal, it must be odd!”

Kuvira sneers. “My past is irrelevant. Winning Nationals means everything to me.  I’m going to crush the nations that thought they could bring me down. I’m back. And not a damn thing is going to stop me from getting what I want.”

The screen goes gray.

“I guess…well, Kuvira, everyone!” Shinobi says in a hurry, eager to move on. “That leaves just one more competitor to be revealed, to represent non-benders. The results will be coming to me in a few short moments. Meanwhile, enjoy a word from our sponsor.”

A commercial for the new Satomobile model begins to play. My dad looks at me.

“So, what do you think about the competition?”

“I’ve gotta be honest,” I say uneasily, “Kuvira looks insane. I’m kinda worried about what she’s bringing to the table. Mako seems like a worthy opponent, and Kai, I’m not really too sure. I guess we’ll have to wait and see till I’m in the City.”

“Speaking of which, when do you leave?” My mom says worriedly. “I need to pack you a lunch for the boat!”

I laugh. Here I am, a regionally renowned chef and she still wants to pack a lunch for me. “Thanks, mom. I leave tomorrow morning at daybreak!”

“Oh, good. There’s a bit of time then,” she relaxes.

“BREAKING NEWS, FOLKS!” Shinobi’s voice cuts off the Satomobile commercial. “I’m here with the winner of the Culinary Competition for Non-Benders, ASAMI SATO!”

I can feel my jaw dropping. “What?? The genius that invented the television we’re watching right now?? SHE CAN COOK?!”

Even my parents look surprised.

“Hmm…I had a few yuans on you for taking Nationals, but I just might have to jump to the Sato ship. Sorry kiddo,” my dad says to me.

I cross my arms, pouting.

Asami appears on screen next to Shinobi, waving at a crowd that clearly adores her. And I can’t blame them. Seeing her onscreen is a lot different than seeing her picture in the paper. She’s gorgeous. Her eyes are a brilliant green, and her deep red lipstick contrasts sharply against her porcelain complexion. She must’ve come straight from her competition, because she still has her chef attire on, minus her hat. Her shiny black hair is tied in a loose bun at the back of her neck, and there’s a little bit of flour on her cheek. She’s oblivious of it, smiling and waving to the people. It’s actually a little charming.

“So, Asami, can you tell us about your winning dish?” Shinobi asks.

“Oh, yes!” she doesn’t miss a beat, her smile growing even wider. “I made Flourless Chocolate Cake with Matcha Cream. I used bittersweet chocolate and the cake came out with the exact density that I wanted. I needed something to offset the heaviness of the cake though, so I knew I had to make some type of cream to balance the dish.”

Her words are getting faster now as she gets more excited. “Matcha is a go-to flavor of mine and happens to pair great with dark chocolate, so I decided on a Matcha flavored cream. I added Kappap Carrageenan, a natural hydrocolloid, along with lota Carrageenan to help emulsify my Matcha cream mixture. Then, after the components were immersed together, I pushed everything through a sieve and out came an unbelievably smooth cream to complete my dish. Ooh, and I sprinkled a bit of cocoa powder on top. The judges appreciated the complementing flavors and differing textures.“ Asami bows, laughing as the crowd cheers.

What the actual fuck? Natural hydrocolloid? Who allowed the engineer/scientist/GENIUS to enter a cooking competition?! WHO EVEN USES KAPPAP CARRAGENNAN?! (I’m still not too clear on what that is??!) Stupid Adorable Genius Asami Sato, that’s who.

Shinobi’s face matches my thoughts. He looks utterly perplexed. “Wow…that sounds…extremely complicated. Congratulations, though! Do you have anything to say to your competitors?”

Asami’s smile disappears as she raises an eyebrow, looking directly into the camera. “I’m looking forward to some friendly competition, but I’m not expecting to lose. I have cooking down to a science, and you just can’t beat tried and true formulas. However, it will be fun to watch them try.”

She lingers for a moment, as if she’s trying to intimidate me through the television. I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of working. It’s also a kinda hot. Just a little bit.

In an instant she’s Miss Congeniality again, waving at the crowd as she’s led off camera.

“There you have it folks! Kai of the Earth Kingdom, Mako of Republic City, Kuvira of Zaofu, Korra of the Southern Water Tribe, and Asami Sato of Republic City are heading to Nationals!! Tune in four weeks from now to see the competition broadcast live here on UNR TODAY! Shinobi out.”

I sigh, getting up to turn off the television.

“Well, Korra, it looks like you’re going to have your hands full!” My mom says, a bit to cheerily for my taste. She pats me on the back before exiting the room.

I roll my eyes. Tell me about it. Kuvira’s crazy. Mako’s a seasoned chef. Kai supposedly makes “the best soufflés in the world.”

And Sato? The girl has got a passion for food, that much I can tell. But we’ll see how well her formulas stack up against my intuition.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the recipes that I drew from:  
> Korra's Red Curry Coconut Clams [here](http://savorysweetlife.com/2012/01/red-curry-coconut-and-ginger-infused-steamed-clams)  
> Asami's Flourless Chocolate Cake With Matcha Cream:  
> [Chocolate Cake](http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/flourless-chocolate-cake)   
> The matcha cream that Asami made was used with this technique in mind:  
> http://www.molecularrecipes.com/gelification/modernist-caramel-cream/  
> BUT if you actually wanted to make it at home the following is a more realistic recipe:  
> http://www.otakufood.com/green-tea-whipped-cream-matcha-cream/
> 
> I'm going to be drawing heavily from recipes centering around Molecular Gastronomy, because it will tie in great with bending techniques and makes sense for Asami's character!
> 
> ADDITIONAL NOTES: Shinobi is the pro-bending announcer guy. Matcha is fine powdered green tea, and Carrageenan is derived from seaweed, used to stabilize/thicken foods and act as a binding agent. Of course only Asami would know to use this ;) Korra has no idea what she's getting in to.


	2. Honey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami does that thing where she pops up out of nowhere and Korra's kinda sorta happy about it.

**Future Industries Ocean Liner, En Route to Republic City, ETA: 1 hour**

_I have her soft hand in mine, and I put one of her elegant fingers, soaked with honey, into my mouth. I close my lips around it, sucking hungrily. I want to taste every last drop she has to offer. She curls her finger inside and I moan, biting tenderly._

_"Baby," she says, removing her finger and flipping her hair to one side of her head with a flourish, "I wanna taste you."_  
                                                             
_I can't even nod, can't speak, just stare as she lowers her body onto me, straddling my hips in a firm grip. She presses her chest against mine, breath tickling my face. She smells sweet. Like vanilla and cherry blossoms.  And honey, of course._

_She presses her forehead to mine, our skin sticking together, burning and heavy with lust. She’s placing her elbows on either side of my face, so that her hands aren't touching me, and I think about how thoughtful she is, not wanting to get me all wet and sticky. Her efforts are in vain though, because I'm way past that point._

_"Korra, baby,“ she purrs, green eyes alight with flames of desire._

_All I can do is hold her waist tighter in response._

_She moves her head down and licks my jawline, hot and wet, grinding her hips over mine ever so softly, teasing me._

_I gasp, needing more. 'Sami...please..."_

 

"Korra?"

There's a loud rapping on my door and I sit up abruptly, throwing my blanket off and sending my clock crashing to the floor in the process.

"What's up?" I call, somehow managing to get coherent words out. I stand up, scratching my head, trying to look like I wasn't just having a super hot sex dream about a girl I’ve never even met.

"Can I come in?" The voice says.

"Yeah, I guess," I reply, uneasy. "I look like crap though, I just woke up."

I glance at the window quick, seeing the sun shining bright over the water. I must’ve slept in big time.

"It's okay, I just woke up too." Well, good. Now I don’t feel _so_ bad. The person enters my room, flipping on the lights.

"How did you sleep?"        

I squint, adjusting to the sudden brightness. "Oh, really goo- - OH MY GOD."

It's Asami Sato. **ASAMI FUCKING SATO**. IN MY ROOM. THE ASAMI SATO THAT WAS JUST LICKING MY FACE IN DREAMLAND A FEW MOMENTS AGO.

She's laughing at me, walking to my nightstand to place a tray of tea and cookies on it. "Hello to you too." She glances at the busted clock on the floor. "Not a morning person, are you? Or, afternoon, I should say. It’s a little after twelve.”

I blush, and stare, of course. How is this even real right now? I’ve been on this boat for nearly half a day without knowing that the person who was likely to be my strongest competitor was just casually here too? What the hell?!

She seems to pick up on my train of thought. “You’re probably wondering why I’m here, and why I didn't introduce myself sooner.” Asami walks up to me, shaking my hand. “So let me start over. I’m Asami Sato.” She smiles wide, and I can’t help but laugh a bit at her. What a dork.

“I’m Korra, but you already know that.” I say, still startled a bit.

She lets go of my hand, gesturing to the tray she brought in. “Want to have a cup of tea with me? I can tell you a bit more about what I’m doing here. I didn’t mean to creep you out so much.”

I forget I’m staring, and I still must have a bemused look on my face, but I really can’t help it. Imagine having _that_ _kind of dream_ about someone and they just appear in your room after the fact. It’s not something you get over so fast. Plus, she has this really pretty pale pink nightgown on, and cute little fuzzy slippers, and her hair’s kind of a mess, so how can I not stare?

I follow her to a table by the window as she brings the tray over, pouring us each a cup of tea as we take seats across from each other.

“This is a vanilla oolong tea,” she says, pushing a cup towards me. “I prepared the blend myself. The vanilla beans I used are imported from the Fire Nation, and you can really taste the difference.”

I can already _smell_ the difference. It’s quite inviting; sweet and toasty and comforting. I’m reminded of my younger years, cuddling with Naga by the fire when she was still a puppy, while my mom baked snow cookies after a long day of play. I can practically hear the wood crackling, my mom humming as she mixed up a fresh batch.

“Go on, try it,” Asami coaxes. I didn’t even realize she’d been watching me. She’s holding her breath. I think I’m making her nervous. I better try this tea.

I lift the cup to my lips and take a drink, and it’s almost surreal, like I’m drinking light itself. The tea is smooth and rich, the warm notes of the vanilla intertwining with the slightly musky oolong.  I close my eyes, imagining that the tea is making me glow from the inside. After I swallow, a hint of dark brown sugar surfaces and disappears within moments, and I’m left with a lingering earthy taste.

Asami can’t help herself. “So is it good? Is it okay? Does it need some honey or anything?”

I nearly choke. Please, _no_ , **no honey**. “Oh, jeez. Um, no. No, but thanks. It’s perfect on it’s own.” I take another sip before looking at her sincerely. “This is the greatest cup of tea I’ve ever had.”

“Wow, really?” She’s smiling so brightly, and I’m really happy that I was the one to put that smile on her face.

“Yeah. It’s unbelievable. There’s lots of layers going on that create a very complex tea. It reminded me of when I was a little girl, the comfort of a warm treat and home, and a fuzzy polar bear dog.” I laugh a little bit, my thoughts in the past. The best kind of food is the kind that can take you to another time and place. To remind you of moments or feelings from long ago, little pockets in time that would otherwise be forgotten.

“Have you ever been away from home before?” Asami says thoughtfully, her chin resting lazily in her hand as she studies me.

“Honestly, no,” I confess. I am feeling a bit nervous about this whole thing. Republic City is HUGE, and I don’t know anyone, or where anything is, and I don’t know if Asami appearing out of thin air is hurting or helping me, and I---

“That’s kind of why I’m here.” My thoughts are cut off as Asami speaks, taking a bite of a cookie before continuing.

“Well, it’s the main reason. There is another business related reason. This is a brand new ocean liner, and I was tasked with making some improvements to the design.” She waves a hand around the room. “Adding touches to the ambiance, fine-tuning the controls, replacing the engine, adding emergency exit solutions, you know, things like that.”

Of course I don’t know things like that. She’s listing this stuff off like a grocery list, downplaying the fact that she’s basically responsible for making this ship run smoothly. She’s adorable.

“So I thought, what better way to test out all the new changes than by navigating this thing myself?”

Oh, so that explains where she was the first half of the trip. She was the damn captain of the ship! Is this girl even real?

“But anyway, I want to help you. I had a feeling that you had never visited anywhere outside the South Pole before, and going from there to Republic City is probably going to be a huge shock for you. I figured you’d need a friend to make it easier. I know the city like the back of my hand,” she says, leaning back in her chair, legs crossed as she cradles her tea in both hands.

Asami Sato wants to be my friend? How thoughtful…and suspicious.

I lean forward. “How do I know that you aren’t just trying to get close to me to steal my recipes??” I ask, way more dramatically than I intended.

She raises her eyebrow. “I guess you don’t, do you?”

There’s silence for a moment, before we both dissolve into laughter.

“No, I don’t play games like that, Korra. I stand behind my recipes. I don’t need to steal from anyone to win.” Asami says, setting her cup on the table.

“Well thanks. I really appreciate you wanting to help me out. I was really nervous about my first time in the city, so having someone to look out for me, well, it’s really thoughtful.” Seriously, it is. I was just expecting to be thrown off the boat and pushed out onto the street to fend for myself and find my way. Knowing Asami is going to be there to help me navigate is a real comfort.

“It’s no problem, really.” Asami says with a charming smile. She rises then, collecting our empty tea cups. “We’ve got about an hour left till we reach the City. Do you want to get dressed and join me outside on the deck?”

“Definitely!” I say, holding the door open for her as she exits. “See you in a few!”

When the door closes, I sink back against it, my thoughts running wild. _Asami Sato is my friend, Asami Sato is my friend, Asami Sato is my friend, and she’s really hot! NO. She’s not hot. She’s beautiful. A beautiful person who probably has a boyfriend or girlfriend already. She’s just being nice. Don’t be a weirdo. Cut the shit, Korra, and get your ass dressed. Asami is waiting for you._

I get up to dress, picking out a dark blue tank top, some blue skinny jeans, and my favorite white wedge sneakers decorated with three blue stripes. I quickly brush my hair (I love my new barely shoulder length haircut – maintenance is a _breeze_ ) and tie a brown zip-up hoodie around my waist before giving myself a thumbs up in the mirror and bounding up the stairs to meet Asami.

* * *

 

When I reach the deck, Asami is there. She’s dressed in a black leather jacket (tailored to perfection, if I may add), bearing the Future Industries logo on the back. Underneath she’s got on a deep burgundy tank top, tucked into black jeggings and calf length black boots. Her hair is loose, flowing in the wind like an extension of the ocean waves. She’s got sunglasses on too, some slick aviators, completing her sexy mover villain look. As I walk over to her she waves, handing me a pair of the same sunglasses she has on.

“Hey again, you might need these. It’s super sunny out today.” I put them on and Asami looks me up and down. “You look good,” she says, before grabbing my hand to guide me towards the front of the boat. Thank the spirits she did, or else she would've seen my face turn as red as a fire ferret.

She lets go of my hand and points ahead. “Look! You can just start to see the City.”

You definitely can. It’s amazing seeing it in person. From here Republic City looks serene and quiet, like a muddled watercolor of different shapes and sizes and colors, and it looks so out of place in the vast ocean that I wonder briefly if it’s a mirage.

“Seeing it in real life is something, isn't it?” Asami glances at me.

“It is. It’s like a dream come true.” I can’t wait to get closer, and see the details, hear the noises, inhale the aromas – experience Republic City first hand.

We’re both quiet for a moment, taking in the view, leaning against the railing.

“Want a drink?” Asami breaks the silence.

“Nah, I’m good.” I extended my arm and gesture upwards, bending a stream of water straight from the ocean and landing it with a splash on my face. I lick around my lips. “See? Yum.”

“Ew Korra, that’s salt water!” Asami laughs, grabbing a napkin from the nearby mini bar to pat my face dry with. “What a weirdo.” She’s still smiling though, moving back to the bar where she grabs herself a bottle of lychee soda from the fridge. “So what do you think of our competition?” She calls to me, taking a seat on a curved couch.

I walk over, grabbing a melon flavored soda for myself before sitting down next to her. I watch as she pops her drink open, tilting her head back to drink. Why does she make everything look so good? I pop my own open and take a swig, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. Asami raises an eyebrow inquisitively. Oh, right, she asked me a question.

“The competition? Well, let’s see. Kai’s a wild card, that’s for sure. It seems like he just came out of nowhere with no professional training, so I don’t really know what to expect from him.”

Asami nods in agreement, and I continue.

“Kuvira looks scary as hell. I don’t know what kind of food she makes but I feel like she’s not going down without a fight.”

“Yeah. She’s one to watch. I read a review of her dishes in her Culinary Competition and she seems to do a lot with grilling and roasting, because she can bend the coals, and she’s able to make aesthetically pleasing foods since she can metal bend molds and pans and stuff like that.” Asami says, contemplating. “She’ll be tough to beat.”

“Agreed,” I say. “That just leaves Mako then. I know he’s the head chef at _The Fire Ferrets_ , but come on, how good can bar food really be? I gotta say though, he’s super cute. Like, damn. Do you know anything about him? Most importantly, is he single?” I laugh. What I want to ask: Are _you_ single?

Asami’s quiet for a moment. I can sense a change in the atmosphere around us. “I do actually.” She stretches out a bit, fiddling with her soda.

“And…?” I prompt her. Did I say something wrong? What’s with her all of a sudden?

“And…” she looks at me, and I can’t tell if she’s sad or apologetic or what. “He’s my boyfriend.”

_Aw fuck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH NO MASAMIIIII. OH NOOOOO.  
> Don't worry, not for long. But we can't have Korrasami so soon, right?  
> Too bad for Korra though, she's already in deep. Poor kid.  
> Also - KORRASAMI IN AVIATORS <3  
> Sorry if I made anyone inadvertently cry by including "Asami Fucking Sato". Republic City Blues feels 3
> 
> FOOD NOTES:  
> -Does anyone else want a cup of Asami's tea? Of course she makes her own blends, she's a foodie nerd.  
> -The "snow cookies" Korra's mom makes are really just cookies shaped like a ball and covered in powdered sugar to resemble a snow ball.


	3. Falling For You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> These two are falling for each other and they just can't stop.

Great. Mako is her boyfriend. That’s so great. They deserve each other. I mean, did I actually really think that I maybe had a chance with Asami? Well, yeah. There was a little part of me that was hoping we could maybe go out on a few dates and then get married and grow old together. But it’s totally okay if that doesn’t happen. I’m already over her, I’m fine, everything’s cool—

“We’ve been really distant lately, though.” Asami says, more to herself than me. She takes off her sunglasses, fiddling with them before she sets them down and crosses her arms, deep in thought.

Oh. _Oh._ Huh. That’s interesting.

“Why?” I say. Gotta be honest; I thought I’d be happy about this little revelation of hers, but seeing her eyes so sad just makes me want to fix whatever’s hurting her. I perch my sunglasses on the top of my head, leaning towards her.

“It’s hard to say for sure.” Asami studies me, searching my eyes like I have the answer for her.  I get the feeling that she doesn’t find what she was looking for; she averts her gaze towards the ocean.

“It’s just; you can tell when something’s off, you know? No one has to say anything, but you can both feel it. Like when I make a joke and the delivery’s just a bit too flat, and his laugh is just a bit too forced. Or when he gets a sudden itch on his ear as soon as my hand brushes his. It speaks volumes, those little things, more than words could ever say.”

I reach out and nudge her elbow, giving her a half-smile. “Maybe it’s time for a change,” I say.

“Maybe you’re right.” Asami says softly, giving me a light but genuine smile. There’s a moment of silence. I wonder what she’s thinking.

“Let’s not dwell on this, though. We’ve got a whole city to explore, the boat’s about to dock!” Asami rises, extending her hand towards me while bouncing on her heels.

I take her outstretched hand, laughing. “You seem more excited than I am, and you live here!”

“I just can’t wait to see you experience everything for the first time. The City has a lot to offer,” she says, her bright mood contagious. She’s smiling so wide and she looks so hopeful and I just can’t help but let go of her hand and I ALMOST end up giving her a hug, but I catch  myself and play it off by bumping her with my shoulder lightly. _Whew._ That was a close one. Hopefully that came off as cute and not horribly awkward. “Well with a tour guide like you, it’s bound to be a good time.”

Asami laughs, and I’m surprised to find my hand in hers again. “Hey, don’t speak so soon. I’ve never done this before, I may be the worst tour guide ever!”

“Somehow I find that hard to believe,” I say, turning an incredulous brow at her, but I find myself staring at her back as she leads me off the boat, practically running.

This girl, I tell ya.

* * *

 

I’m off the boat now, waiting with my luggage while Asami writes something on a clipboard and hands it to a Future Industries worker. She hurries over to me, taking one of my bags.

“Okay, we’re all set. Ready?” She’s already walking, shooting a quick smile over her shoulder at me.

“Ready!” I shout back, picking up my speed to catch up to her. We’re nearing the street now and I can feel the energy buzzing around me, like I’ve just walked into a hive of busy scorpion bees. It feels different from the calm I know back home, but a good different. Like I’m about to be a part of something big. Asami leads me to a bench while I try to walk and sight see at the same time, really only succeeding in tripping over my own feet the whole time.

Asami puts my bag on the bench. “Okay Korra, listen closely. So. That way is the hotel. You should already have your room information.”

What? I don’t have any information! What?!!

“That way is the market. Over there is a pretty good noodle place.” She’s talking fast, pointing wildly. “Remember not to go to that side of town or you’ll run into some big trouble. Don’t go in that shop or you’ll get ripped off big time. Way over there is the police station. And if you look over here you’ll see the building where we’re holding the Championship. Oh, also, President Raiko’s holding a meeting with the contenders in two hours, it’s right off of Mai Street, then when you take the second left by cab you’ll arrive. This is where we part ways. See you later!” Asami has a shit-eating grin, waving at me before walking away.

ASAMI SATO, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?! I literally didn’t understand let alone remember anything she just said! I didn’t know about any hotel arrangements, I’ve already forgotten where Raiko is meeting us, and to be honest I don’t even know what street we’re on or how to go about getting a cab. Why is she leaving me here? I thought she was going to help me!

My heart is beating way too fast now and I’m sweating, and all of a sudden the pleasant buzz of the City now seems like an ominous stranger, threatening to take me away and snuff out my very existence. Funny how something so exciting can become dangerous so fast.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. SHIT. Am I in the bad part of town? Am I about to die?

I whirl around, ready to slug someone.

It’s freaking Asami, laughing her ass off. She swats away my fist. “I’m only kidding. I was going to wait longer to come back but you look like you’re about to pass out.”

I can only stare at her, baffled. “Asami!! Why??” I lightly punch her in the arm, which only makes her laugh harder. I should be getting mad, but I really can’t. I’m too relieved that she came back, and she’s too cute to get mad at anyway.

“Okay, okay, your fun is over. I’m getting you back for this.” I say, and I mean it. Asami is not getting away with this crap.

“Sure, okay,” Asami says sarcastically, picking my bag up again. “Follow me. You are technically supposed to stay in a hotel, but you’re staying with me at my place.” She points to an insanely tall, beautiful tower that looks like it’s made out of glass and metal and all things beautiful a few blocks ahead.

I honestly had thought that it was a tourist attraction or modern sculpture or something, but nope, that’s Asami’s apartment tower thingy. Apparently, a Sato is nothing if not extravagant and exquisite.

“That is, if you want. Sorry, I didn’t mean to assume. I can definitely get you a hotel room if you prefer!” Asami says, gesturing the opposite way towards the hotel building.

“Nah, you’re place looks all right. Kinda small, but all right,” I joke.

She smirks, eyebrow raised. “Let’s get a move on then, so we can have some time to explore before Raiko’s meeting!” Asami’s leading the way again, and in a few short minutes I’m standing in front of the Sato Residential Tower, staring up at it feeling like a very small child.

“Korr, come on!” Asami all but whines, holding the door open for me.

My stomach flutters a bit. _Did she just call me Korr? She totally just called me Korr. Ahhhh I love it!_ I hurry inside, eager to get to Asami’s floor.

* * *

 

“So what do you think of the view?” Asami says when we’re inside her suite, which I may add, is BASICALLY THE ENTIRE TOP FLOOR.

“I think it’s absolutely amazing,” I say, moving up to one of the windows.

And it is. It’s actually kind of scary, standing here knowing that the only thing separating me from a horrible flattened pancake death is a pane of glass, but it’s a surreal feeling. Like we’re on a cloud overlooking the city. Everything seems so much smaller from up here, but I guess that’s how it is when you’re in the top floor of the tallest building in the area.

“It really puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?” Asami says, moving next to me. We share a comfortable silence for a few moments before she speaks again. “So, now that you’re all settled in, want to check it out from the ground view?”

Well, now that we’re here in her apartment, I kinda want to stay in it for a while. Not that I’m not eager to go check out the streets, but it’s been a pretty exciting day thus far, and I just want to regroup before leaving again.

I look at Asami. “Would you mind staying here a while? I want to relax for a bit before we head out. And it’s also super comfy in here.” To prove my point, I throw myself onto Asami’s leather sofa, hugging a pillow to my chest.

She laughs, chucking another pillow at me. “Hey, that’s fine by me. I was actually hoping you might say that. I’m a bit burned out myself.” She walks over to her refrigerator. “Are you hungry at all?” She calls to me. “If you’re up for it, maybe you could help me whip up some quick Tofu Hambagu.”

My stomach growls aloud in response. “Oh yes, happy to help!”

I meet her in her kitchen as she’s bringing out the ingredients. I spot ground chicken and tofu on the counter already, and it looks like Asami’s taking out some peppers and green onion.

“Have you ever made this before?” Asami says, placing the ingredients down before putting a bowl in front of me.

 “Not the exact same dish. But I have made something similar.  I use salmon instead of ground chicken, mix in some black sesame seeds, tofu, and some veggies, form the ingredients into a ball, and fry ‘em up. I’m excited to try these though; we don’t get a lot of chicken often in the Southern Tribe, only when it comes in on the cargo shipment.”

I roll up my sleeves, opening the bottles of soy sauce, mirin, and rice vinegar that Asami pushes towards me.

“All right, chef. How much do I need of these?” I say to Asami, gesturing at the open bottles.

“A tablespoon each of the soy sauce and mirin, two teaspoons of rice vinegar, and then add a tablespoon of sugar and a bit of potato starch,” she says, hands on her hips as I begin to work.

I slowly bend the soy sauce and mirin out of their bottles at once, intertwining them together in an overly elaborate spiral, just because I know Asami is watching. I direct the sauces into the bowl with a flick of my wrist. I look up and grin cockily at Asami. She’s still just watching my movements intently.

All right then, time to bring out the big guns. I flex my muscles and crack my knuckles (because why not), and earn a snort and roll of the eyes from Asami, then I bend two teaspoon size droplets of rice vinegar straight out of the bottle. I throw each of them in the air, and cross my arms, watching satisfactorily as each drop makes a perfect arc before falling into the bowl. With each drop, Asami’s eyebrow raises a bit higher.

After adding the sugar and potato starch, I twist my wrist and easily whisk the ingredients together perfectly in one fluid motion.

“Wow,” Asami breathes.  “I’ve never seen a water bender cook live in action before. It’s very…efficient.”

“Yeah, it gets the mixing done fast. Among other things. But you’ll have to wait until the competition to see what else I have in store,” I smirk.

“Looking forward to it,” Asami says teasingly, placing the ground chicken into a separate bowl.

“Can you please dice the red, yellow and green peppers, Korra?” Asami asks, ripping bits of tofu and tossing them into the bowl.

“Sure thing!” I fill a bowl with water and bend some out, freezing it into five separate sheets standing upright. I maneuver the sheets over a pepper before bringing them down, chopping the pepper five times lengthwise. I repeat the maneuver after turning the pepper to cut widthwise, and end up with perfectly diced pepper.

“Nice,” Asami says, mashing the chicken tofu, and onion together with her hands. “You made a little ice guillotine for the pepper. Very clever.”

“Ice guillotine?” I say, tossing the diced peppers into Asami’s mixture. “That sounds really morbid. I like to call it the ‘Ice ‘N Dice’.”

“Ice ‘N Dice,” Asami repeats, chuckling. “I like that. Maybe Future Industries can come out with a kitchen tools line, inspired by water bending techniques. Want to go into business?”

“Uh, no. Too much math.” I say, tossing a bit of salt, pepper and grated ginger into her mixture.

Asami cracks an egg into the bowl, tossing the shell into the trash before mashing the mixture with her hands a few more times to incorporate the ingredients.  “Math, you say? Nah, no math. Well, some math.”

I look at her skeptically as I prep the frying pan by pouring some oil in it.

“Okay, a lot of math,” Asami relents under my stare, “BUT…you don’t have to worry about it. You can test products, and I’ll watch you, taking notes and asking questions.”

I turn the pan on medium heat. “Tempting, but I really don’t think I’m the business type. We could always do something else together though. Like, if you weren’t working at Future Industries, what would you want to be doing?”

She’s forming balls quickly from the mixture now, dropping them into the pan with a sizzle. She’s got a thoughtful look on her face, her brow furrowed as she finishes dropping in the last of the balls onto the pan.

“You know…” Asami says, washing her hands and drying them off as the Hambagu cooks. “I’ve always wanted to open up a restaurant. A nice little bistro named Yasuko.”

“Yasuko?” I say. “That’s a pretty name.”

“It’s my mom’s name. She passed away when I was six, but she introduced me to cooking and I’m forever grateful to her for it.” She turns the Hambagu balls over, so the golden brown side is up, and places a cover over them to let them finish cooking.

“She’s the one who inspired me to think outside of the box with recipes. She always told me that I can’t be afraid to mix it up sometimes. That nothing is set in stone in the kitchen; that I shouldn’t be afraid of breaking from tradition.”

Asami gives me a little smile. “That’s why I’m always using my physics and chemical know-how to constantly re-vamp food as the world knows it. I know my mom would be proud of me, and I’d love to open up a restaurant to honor her memory and share my unique dishes with the City. ”

Her response is inspirational. Touching. And it’s the first glimpse I have into Asami’s life. Not the life that I’ve seen covered in magazines and television, but the woman behind all that. I’m glad she felt comfortable enough to share with me.

“You’re amazing, Asami,” I say as she takes the lid off the pan, adding in my sauce with a hiss.

“What?” she says, coating the Hambagu with the sauce.

“Oh, uh…you’d have an awesome restaurant…is what I said…” I cough.

There’s a light smile playing across her lips. “Hmm…”

I’m nervous now. She totally heard me but she’s not going to call me out on it. I’m starting to get the feeling that she likes making me sweat.

“So, where are your bowls? I’ll grab us some.” Something. Anything. Just get me moving so I’m not standing here like a fool that just called you amazing like a head-over-heels, wide-eyed girl in a cliché romantic mover.

“Oh, you didn’t want me to feed you?” she says, biting down slightly on her bottom lip.

“What?! I…I mean, do you want to?” What is coming out of my mouth right now?

Asami laughs. “Come here, Korr.”

I’m helpless, instantly moving to her at her command.

She picks up a piece of the Hambagu, and lightly blows on it. The smoke curls up and away, and she looks at me through the soft billows, eyelids heavy.

“Here,” she says, moving the food towards my mouth.

I bite a piece of it lightly, savoring the tangy taste of the sauce. “ _Mmm_ …”

Asami takes a bite after me, never breaking eye contact. “ _Mmm_ …is right.” Her voice is low, super hot. She licks her lips, popping the rest of the Hambagu piece into her mouth, chewing softly.

“Thanks for helping, Korra.” She’s smiling. I’m pretty sure I’ve been staring open-mouthed this whole time.

Asami lets her gaze linger on mine a moment, then brushes past me and grabs two bowls, handing me one.

“Here you go!” She serves herself and heads over to the couch.

I’m still in a daze. Nothing like a little flirty cooking to get a girl completely out of her mind.

“Korra, come on! _Real Housewives of Republic City_ is on!”

She pats the spot next to her excitedly, eyes never leaving the television.

 _Real Housewives of Republic City_? Never heard of it, but Asami seems pretty into it. I’ll have to give it a try.

I grab my food and sit next to her as she turns the volume up. She nudges me with her shoulder.

“Hey,” she says, the cutest grin on her face.

“Hey,” I say back returning her smile.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she looks at me serenely before turning back to her food.

I must say, I’m glad I’m here too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man oh man the flirting is off tha chain!! Korra's got it bad and so does Sato. 
> 
> Tofu Hambagu is found [here](http://www.justonecookbook.com/recipes/chicken-meatballs)   
> (SERIOUSLY MAKE IT IT'S SO GOOD)
> 
> Korra's Tofu Fish Balls found [here](http://www.rotinrice.com/2010/02/tofu-fish-balls)


	4. The Prize

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find out what the chefs are competing for, and Asami and Korra are being cute with each other.

_Real Housewives of Republic City_ turns out to be really dumb, but Asami’s laughing at it a lot so I guess it’s fine. When the episode wraps up it’s time for us to go the meeting with Raiko, but getting up from Asami’s comfy couch is the absolute last thing I want to do right now, especially on a full stomach. I’ve got that feeling like gravity is trying to push everything on me down, from my eyelids to my whole body. I’m tired, and content, and I’m with Asami. I really, really don’t want to get up.

Asami turns off the television and gives me an apologetic look. “We’ve got to get going now,” she says, but she lays down with a sigh.

“I mean, we don’t _have_ to,” I say, deciding to be daring and lay back with my head on her feet.

If Asami is bothered, she doesn’t show it. She doesn’t even flinch, like this is the most natural thing in the world. “We do if we want to compete. We’ve gotten this far, no use throwing it all away because we’re lazy and unbelievably comfortable,” she says, but she still doesn’t move.

I lift up my hand and tickle under her knee, eliciting a giggle from her. “Come on, ‘Sami, let’s get up!” If we don’t do it now, we might not leave this couch _ever._

She lifts up my head with her feet, and I’m forced to sit upright, laughing. “’Sami?” she says, her tone lightly teasing. “How cute.”

“What do you expect? Cute people say cute things.” I give her an exaggerated smile, smiling so wide that my eyes are nearly closed.

Asami tries to stifle a laugh but it doesn’t work. “I can’t argue with that. All right; come on, cute person. You wanted to get up so let’s do it,” she gets up and takes hold of my hands, dragging me up also.

“Only out of necessity,” I pout standing upright. I take the brown hoodie that I had wrapped around my waist and put it on, pulling the hood over my head, and slip by thumbs through the holes in the sleeves that I made myself.

Asami slips into her jacket. “Ready?” she looks over at me.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” I say, leading the way out. I really hope this meeting doesn’t take long.

* * *

 

When we arrive at the conference room Mako is already there. I was kinda hoping he would maybe forget about this meeting and not show up. But of course, he spots us walking in and waves us over.

“Hey, Asami!” he says when we get closer, getting up to give her a hug.

“Is this the Water Tribe chef?” he says to Asami, gesturing at me.

She raises an eyebrow. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

He blushes a little. “Oh, yeah. Right. Are you the Water Tribe chef?” he says to me, clearly embarrassed. I can tell he’d be fun to mess with, so I don’t miss a beat.

“Am I?” I study him intently, trying my best to unnerve him.

Asami giggles, pulling at my sleeve. “Come on, Korra. Don’t be a nerd!”

 

“All right, all right. I’m Korra. And yeah, I’m the Water Tribe chef.” I smile and shake Mako’s hand. He looks a lot more at ease now.

“Cool. So what are you doing with Asami?” he says, nonchalantly. Asami reacts with a subtle blush.

“She’s with me. Well, she’s staying with me. I offered.” She says smoothly.

His eyes harden a bit. “So this girl you don’t even know can just stay at your place but I get kicked out to live on the top floor of my bar?”

Asami looks pissed now. “I didn’t kick you out. It was a mutual agreement for you to leave. Living together wasn’t working out for us.”

“Does anything work out for us?” Mako says with a huff.

Wow, this is escalating quickly.

“Don’t start this now, Mako. Let’s sit down.” Asami grabs my hand and leads me to a chair. Mako sits on the other side of Asami, and I catch him looking pointedly at our joined hands, which leads Asami to promptly let go of mine.

Am I sensing a bit of jealousy? I have to stop myself from smirking.

I glance at Asami and Mako next to me. Both of them are sitting in the same pose, backs straight against the chair, feet flat on the ground, arms crossed and expressions neutral but like they are going to explode at any minute.

I loop a stray whisp of Asami’s hair behind her ear. “Hey Asami,”

She doesn’t respond for a second, but I eventually get a quiet “what.”

“Who earns a living by driving their customers away?”

She looks at me, an irritated look on her face. “You don’t earn a living by driving customers away. Satisfied customers bring in a profit. Without customers, you obviously can’t survive.”

Damn it, she ruined my joke with her over-analyzing.

“It’s a taxi driver.” I say, my tone flat.

Her eyebrows furrow. “What?”

“Who earns a living by driving their customers away? A taxi driver.” I say.

Her expression softens as the joke sets in. “Korra, I swear, that is so dumb.”

I grin. “But it stumped you.”

She shoves me lightly, smiling. “Whatever.”

The doors open and we both turn to see who has arrived. It’s Kai, the Air Nation chef. He’s wearing a nicely fitted green long sleeve t-shirt, dark wash jeans, and white sneakers so bright I have the urge to ask Asami if she has any sunglasses on her. He’s wearing an amused expression as he walks up to us, taking a seat next to me.

“Is there something on my face?” he says, the corner of his mouth turned up into a smile.

Damn. I realized I hadn’t taken my eyes off of him since he walked into the room. So I like to people watch, big deal.

“Well, besides my chiseled features?” he laughs good-naturedly. “I’m Kai, nice to meet you.”

I shake his extended hand. “Hey, Kai. I’m Korra, and this is Asami and Mako.” I gesture to the two next to me.

“Whoa, Asami Sato!” Kai enthusiastically reaches around me to shake Asami’s hand. “You’re amazing! It’s an honor to meet you.”

Asami smiles, thanking him, and Mako snorts.

Kai notices. “Oh, hey, Mako!”

Mako replies with a short hello, nodding curtly in his direction.

“Here’s to hoping this meeting gets done with quickly,” Kai says, leaning back into a comfortable position. “So how are you liking the city, Korra? It’s my first time here and it’s kinda overwhelming, but I like it.”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah, it’s definitely different. Luckily, Asami took me under her wing so I’m not wandering the streets like a complete idiot. She’s been awesome.”

Asami chimes in. “Please. It’s a wonder I haven’t driven you insane yet.”

Oh, Asami, too late for that.

Kai laughs. “Hey, it’s pretty cool of you to help her out, Asami. She looks pretty gullible to me; to be honest, I don’t how well she’s gonna fare in the kitchen.”

Asami joins in his laughter and I scowl.

“I’m sitting right here, you know.” I say, crossing my arms.

“I’m just messin’ with ya,” Kai says, lightly kicking my foot.

We all look up as the door swings open again, and Kuvira stalks in, looking very stoic. She’s got on a dark green army jacket, black tank top underneath, and black skinny jeans with black combat boots. Her hair is back in bun. She takes a seat a few away from Kai.

“Kuvira, what’s up?” I lean forward, nodding towards her.

She stares at me. “Hello.”

She somehow manages to inject a healthy amount of disgust and utter annoyance in the one word.

I decide to try for some conversation. “So, how are you liking Republic City?”

I jump as I hear the harsh scrape of Kuvira’s chair as she gets up, moving towards me swiftly and grabbing my collar harshly.

“Listen,” she says, face close to mine. “We don’t speak. We don’t interact. Don’t even look at me. We both know what your father tried to do to me and nearly succeeded. When I look at you I see his face, trying to condemn me to a life behind bars. It’s not something I’m going to forget.”

I rip her arm off of my collar and she recoils from my touch, disgust curling her lip as she walks back to her seat.

“What the fuck?” Kai whispers.

I glance at Asami and nearly lose my shit. She’s got a freaking knife in her hand, just poking out of her jacket sleeve.

“Asami, what the hell? Put that thing away!” I whisper to her hurriedly. It’s gone in a flash as it disappears under her jacket sleeve.

“Sorry. She looked like she was going to try something.” Asami says back quietly, and she looks dead serious.

I mean, I can definitely take care of myself. I’ve been trained in Tai Chi since I was little and Kuvira’s reputation doesn’t scare me one bit. Okay, maybe a little. But still, Asami coming to my defense is kind of awesome.

“Thanks,” I say to her, giving her a lopsided smile. I’m about to ask her a few things like WHY DO YOU HAVE A SECRET KNIFE and DO YOU KNOW HOW TO FIGHT???? when President Raiko walks in. We all rise to our feet as he greets each of us with a firm handshake before moving to a small podium at the head of the room.

He clears his throat. “Thank you for meeting here today, chefs. I’d like to extend my congratulations to each and every one of you. Know that only the best of the best are in this room right now.”

Raiko reaches up to straighten his glasses before continuing. “This shouldn’t take long, as I’d like for you all to be able enjoy your first night in Republic City. Well, all of you save for Ms. Sato and Mako, who are most certainly familiar with the area.” He smiles tightly at them, his eyes crinkling, but he still somehow doesn’t look very friendly. I imagine it’s a practiced gesture.

“As you are all aware, the invention of the television has taken the world by storm, thanks to the genius of Ms. Sato and Future Industries.”

I flash Asami a grin and a thumbs up, and she winks at me, smiling.

“The number of households that own a television is nearly doubling every day, and almost every bar in the City has them as well. As such, I’ve made negotiations with Varrick Global Industries to make the 58th National Culinary Championship the world’s very first televised event.”

The door slams open and a man with flowing coats and wavy brown hair, along with a trim mustache, bounds in. “YES, YOU HEARD RIGHT FOLKS! The world’s VERY FIRST nationally televised event sponsored and produced by none other than my very own company, Varrick Global Industries.”

Ah, so this is Varrick. He seems like he’s waiting for applause or something, but we’re all just staring at him.  President Raiko looks a bit annoyed, but Varrick continues on.

“And because this is an event for the ages, the stakes must be high. Yes, gone are the days of competing for a simple cash prize. What’s the fun in that? How is that going to motivate you? Especially when you’ve got a billionaire competing?” He looks at Asami, clearly trying to get a reaction out of her, but she just stares, her expression remaining passive.

“No siree! This year, the prize is something beyond your wildest dreams. With my money and influence, I can make just about anything happen. Let me tell you, one time while doing business with the Earth Kingdom, I---“

President Raiko holds up a hand, cutting him off. “That’s enough Varrick, I’ll take it from here.”

Varrick snaps his mouth shut but looks a bit disappointed, nevertheless allowing Raiko to continue.

“Since we want this televised event to be a massive success, as it will set the pace for all to come, we are raising the bar this year thanks to Varrick’s sponsorship. If you win this competition, the prize is simple: you get anything you want.”

Wait. Anything we want? Like, _anything_? I share a sideways glance with Asami. Mako looks intrigued, leaning forward. Kuvira’s eyes narrow.

“So, if I win and I want a million yuans, I can have that?” Kai asks.

“Yes,” Raiko replies curtly.

“If I win and I want to have dinner with you, I can?” I say.

Asami, Kai and even Mako stifle a laugh.

“Well, assuming you win, yes,” Raiko says, looking less than enthused at the prospect.

“Higher stakes means more intense competition,” Raiko continues. “There will be three days of competition. On the first day, you will have 40 minutes to prepare an appetizer to serve to the judges. At the end of the day, one chef will be eliminated based off the judges’ votes. The four remaining chefs will continue on to day two, in which you must create a main dish in 50 minutes. Again, after the judges’ taste and reach a decision, one more chef will be eliminated. On the final day of competition, the final three chefs will create a dessert in 60 minutes to attempt to win the prize of their choice.”

Raiko pauses to clear his throat. “Now, the final requirement is that on the first day of competition, you must state to the judges what you will be choosing to compete for. For example, Chef Kai, if you decide to stay with your earlier example, you would tell the judges that you will be competing for one million yuans. This decision cannot be changed throughout the duration of the competition.”

“Round one begins tomorrow at 6:00 PM sharp. Arrive two hours early wearing your cooking attire. Until then, get to know the city; and if you’re smart, your competitors. Good luck, chefs.” Raiko bows and exits the room, with Varrick following behind after he salutes us in a very dramatic fashion.

 

Mako lets out a low whistle. “Interesting twist. We win, we get anything we want.”

“Very interesting indeed,” I say, running a hand through my hair. What do I even want? Well, besides Asami of course, but that’d probably be a bit inappropriate to ask for. Just a bit.

“Well, I for one, would like to discuss this over some drinks,” Asami says, getting up.

“Do you all want to meet at the Fire Ferrets later tonight?” Mako says. “We just got some top-shelf tequila in today, imported from the Fire Nation. I can set you all up with some Flaming Shots, my specialty.” He flicks his fingers and a flame appears.

Asami grins at him, her eyebrow raised. “Show off.”

“Hey, you can’t deny I make the best drinks in town.” He returns her smile, nudging her.

“I wouldn’t think of it.” She gives him a light kiss.

Son of a bitch, they made up fast. I think I have Masami whiplash.

“So how’s about 9:00 tonight then?” Mako says, looking at everyone.

“I’m in!” Kai says, hopping up and strolling away. “I’ll catch you guys later!” he throws up the peace sign behind him as he exits.

“Kuvira?” Mako says questioningly to her.

Did he not see her complete and utter display of anti-socialness earlier?

Kuvira smirks at him and leaves the room.

“That’s a no, Mako.” I say.

“Oh, thank you Korra, thank the spirits you’re here or I would have never guessed.’ He says sarcastically, but with a slight smile playing on his lips. Mako loops an arm around Asami.

“Asami, want to come a bit earlier? We can...catch up a bit?” he says, his voice muffled as he talks into her hair.

Uh…is that his way of saying he wants to have sex with her? Please, spirits no! ASAMI, SAY NO.

Much to my relief Asami shakes her head.

“I can’t! I want to help Korra pick out an outfit for tonight.” she says, walking over to me and hooking her arm in mine.

“And that’s going to take…” Mako glances at the clock. “The whole next four hours?”

Asami’s scathing stare is all the answer he needs.

“Okay, okay. Well, I’ll see you at 9:00 then! You gal pals have fun. Nice meeting you Korra,” he says as he walks past us, his eyes once again on our linked arms.

I’m so happy Asami chose me! SHE CHOSE OUTFIT PICKING WITH ME OVER SEX WITH MAKO (at least I think that’s what he meant by “catching up”) WHOO HOO!!!

Asami must read the excitement on my face, because she says, “I didn’t have you pegged for one who’d be so enthusiastic over outfit picking. Not that I’m complaining, I’m excited too!”

Ha. Ha. If only you knew that I am really only excited because I get to spend quality alone time with you.

“I’m not usually, but I feel like you’ll make it fun!” I say, matching her step as we leave the building.

“You’re not wrong about that. Now, come on, let’s get you out of those clothes.” She says with a sly smile.

I SWEAR, ASAMI SATO WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay now that stupid plot setup is out of the way the gal pals can start having some fun next chapter!!! 
> 
> That Masami whiplash is killer, sorry Korra


	5. The Fire Ferrets

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra pick outfits, go to a bar, and flirt and stare at each other pretty much the whole chapter.

So Asami’s room is totally cool. I mean, I don’t know what I was expecting. It’s Asami, of course it’s going to be cool.

The walls are maroon and accents are in black, and she’s even got leather paneling behind her bed. Everything feels very open and airy, yet sleek and sophisticated. She’s got a black and white painting of the Republic City skyline hanging above her bed, which I gaze at while I’m waiting for her to change. Her bed is super comfy – it’s made of some new material she’s testing out, and I bounce on it, pretending I’m on a cloud.

“Ahem.”

I stop bouncing and turn to look at Asami, and I can’t help but let my draw drop.

“Damn,” I whisper. She’s got on a little leather mini skirt with a jewel encrusted black bustier top, and boy, is she rocking it.

Asami bends her knees a little bit and blows a kiss towards me, winking before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

Since when is inducing someone into cardiac arrest funny??

“So? What do you think?” Asami twirls around and fluffs her hair dramatically, peering at me over her shoulder.

“I…well, I mean, I think you look gorgeous. Like, you look super, super good.” Spirits, it’s a wonder I’m not drooling.

“Thanks, Korra!” she smiles innocently, moving over to sit… ON MY LAP? SHE’S SITTING ON MY LAP!!

Oh shit, where do I put my hands? Can she hear my heart beating? Does she know how good her soft, warm body feels against mine? Do I dare to even look down? Korra, don’t do it, don’t do it---

_OH MY GOD._

Her stupid little skirt is riding up so high that I literally think if she moves I’m going to see _everything_ she has to offer. And as much as I’d like to see, it’s way too early for that. I mean, I haven’t even kissed this girl yet. Hell, she doesn’t even know I have a huge crush on her. Well, maybe she does. She seems to flirt back with me. That, and the fact that I’m pretty sure I am openly gawking at her 96.5% of the time.

 I go against my every instinct and place my hands on her thighs, wiggling the material down a bit more to protect her modesty.

Asami looks down, genuinely surprised. “Oh, jeez, thank you!” there’s a light blush coloring her cheeks.

What a dork!

“So, what do you think about this?” she pulls at my shirt, the lacy, flowy one she picked out for me.

Umm, what I do I think about the shirt? I’m not really thinking about the shirt. I’m thinking about her fine ass sitting on my lap right now and pretty much nothing else.

Asami lightly takes hold of my chin and pushes my face towards her. I blink as a pair of sparkling green eyes lock with mine.

“Korra?” she raises an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth turning up into smile.

This asshole. She knows what she’s doing to me. Two can play this game, though.

I move my hands to her chest, making an arc with my finger from one end of her collar bone to the other. I deliberately make my motions light and slow, and I can feel her heart pounding under my touch as her eyes fall closed.

I trail my hands behind her, moving them down to rest on the small of her back. I bring my face close to hers, making sure to let my lips quickly graze her skin on the way up, before I nuzzle my nose along the side of her jaw. I breathe in her scent, vanilla and sugar and cherry blossoms, and smile as I feel her pressing towards me, her breath hitching.

I pull back abruptly.

“So what perfume do you wear?” I ask, feigning chipper seriousness, as if I’m oblivious to what I just did to her.

She opens her eyes, half lidded as she kinda leans towards me. “Do I—what? Wear what before?”

Look who’s the babbling mess now!

I place my hands lightly around her waist and easily pick her up off my lap, placing her on the bed as I get up. I glance at the shirt I have on.

“I guess it’s all right. I don’t really care about what I’m wearing.” I say, returning to the question she asked me earlier. You can’t blame me for throwing in a little Korra whiplash after I had to deal with that Masami whiplash earlier. And quite frankly, Asami needs a taste of her own seductive medicine.

“Huh?” Asami looks at me questioningly before shaking her head. “Oh, oh, the shirt. Right. Um.”

She moves towards me, surveying me.

“You know what, I don’t like it. It’s not tight enough.” She brings a finger to her lips, brows furrowed as she concentrates.

“I think simple is the way to go with you. You don’t need fancy patterns or styles. We’re going to let your natural beauty and charm do all the talking. Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

I watch as she disappears inside her walk-in closet once again. Natural beauty and charm, huh?

I’m not waiting too long, as Asami is already out in a few quick moments. She’s holding a pile of clothes for me.

“Here, Korra! Put this on!”

Apparently I’m not moving fast enough, because she throws the clothes at me before I can grab them and they hit me smack in the face.

“ _Ooof_. Asami, why do you do this to me?” I say, making a sad face at her.

“Because I love torturing you, why else?” She shrugs and gestures me towards the closet.

Well, she’s succeeded in that much.

“You change in there, I’m going to change out here. Let me know when you’re done so you don’t walk in on me naked or anything,” she says, arms crossed and waiting for me to leave.

I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “Oooh, in that case maybe I’ll stumble out by accident?” I laugh as she throws a pillow at my retreating back.

“Asami! Stop with the throwing!” I say as I close the door behind me.

All right, let’s see what Miss Sato has picked out for me. I unfold a pair of dark wash skinny jeans, with plenty of rips in them. Okay, I approve. She’s paired it with a simple white tank top and a cobalt blue blazer, with matching cobalt canvas shoes. A bit simple for going out, I think, but I completely trust her judgment. I pull everything on and check myself out in her full length mirror. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I don’t want to get all fashion-y but I do have to admit that the blazer really brings out my eyes, and the white tank top looks great with my skin tone. Well done, Asami. Speaking of Asami…

“Hey, princess, are you done?” I yell out.

“Yeah, I’m done! You can come out!” she replies, and I come out of the closet to the most beautiful sight I have ever laid eyes on.

Asami Sato is dressed to the nines in high-waisted maroon jeans that accentuate her long legs. She’s wearing a black off the shoulder crop top, revealing her toned, smooth stomach. She’s holding a leather jacket in the crook of her finger, throwing it over her shoulder casually as she places a hand on her hip, posing for me.

I notice that her eyes rake down my figure. She bites her lip, nodding her head slowly as her gaze travels back up my body.

“Yes,” is all she says, lips parted and voice breathy.

“Oh, you like it?” I say, tugging the collar of my blazer. It’s getting _really_ hot in here.

“Understatement of the century, but yeah. You look great.” Asami throws her jacket to the bed, reluctantly taking her eyes off me, and takes a seat at her makeup table. I watch as her long, nimble fingers fasten her hair into a loose up-do, before she puts on some gold hoop earrings. She grabs her lipstick and re-applies another layer to her lips, coloring them a deep red.

_What I would give to kiss those lips…_

“You want some?” Asami says, catching me staring in the mirror.

Oh, god, yes do I ever…

She waves her lipstick bottle, smirking a bit.

Of course, the lipstick.

“Nah, I don’t wear makeup. The most I do is a little mascara. But thanks,” I say, shoving my hands into my pockets. Will my mind ever get out of the gutter?

“Is it time to go?” I bounce on my heels, waiting for her response.

“One more minute,” Asami says as she swipes purple eye shadow onto her eyelids, and closes the pallet with a snap.

She pushes her chair in, grabs her jacket from the bed, and steps into some black ankle boots.

Looking at her makes me feel a little self-conscious about my outfit. I mean, I like it fine, but she looks so trendy and shit.

“Asami, are you sure this is okay to go out in? It’s not too casual?” I pick at my tank top.

“Trust me, it’s perfect. I’ll tell you why later. Shall we?” she holds her elbow out to me and I gladly hook my arm with hers, closing the door behind us.

I don’t know what to make of that cryptic answer, but I can’t wait to find out.

* * *

 

So, _The Fire Ferrets_ is freaking INSANE.

As soon as we step through the doors a blast of fire erupts just inches from my face.

“Gyahh!!” I say, bending the water out of someone’s drink to extinguish the flames.

Asami is laughing at me. “Don’t worry Korra, they do this all the time. It’s called the Flame Game. Look!”

She points to one of the HUGE television screens mounted on the walls of the bar, where The Fire Ferrets have just won Round One of a Pro-Bending match.

The bar patrons are all whooping and yelling, tipping shots into their mouths and pumping their fists.

“THAT’S MY BROTHER!” I spot Mako shouting and pointing at the television from behind the bar. “GO BOLIN!!”

Asami is leading me over to Mako, talking loudly so I can hear her over the Ferrets fans. “Whenever the Ferrets win a round, a controlled jet of fire shoots out from designated areas on the ceiling. Firebenders are supposed to hold their shot under the flame to light it, and then take the shot.”

I raise my eyebrows. “That sounds…dangerous.”

She shrugs as we take seats at the bar. “I suppose, for people who aren’t fire benders. Most of them are more than happy to hand out flaming shots though, non-firebenders just have to blow out the flame before taking it.” She signals over to Mako.

“Asami!” he walks over to us, drying a glass with a towel. “Hey, Korra!”

“Hey, Mako! Your place is awesome,” I say.

“Thanks,” he smiles. “It can get a bit crazy on game night, but that’s also when it’s the most fun. Especially if we win, which is almost always a given. My brother’s the earth bender on the team, his name’s Bolin.” Mako nods at the screen, and I catch a shot of Bolin launching an earth disc straight at the opposing team’s waterbender.

“Nice shot!” Asami whistles.

“Shots, you say?” Mako grins. “Don’t mind if I do. What would you like?”

Asami rolls her eyes but returns his smile. “The usual, C&C. What about you, Korra?”

I blush a little. “Well, I’ve only really ever had vodka, so…I don’t really know what to order.”

“Hey, no worries!” Mako says. “I’ll give you what Asami’s having first, and you can tell me if you like it or not, we’ll go from there!” He turns to grab some bottles from various shelves behind him.

I’ve gotta admit, he looks good tonight. He’s in a fitted black v-neck tee and black jeans, a red bandana on his forehead. He’s also wearing fingerless black gloves. I can see how Asami could fall for this guy. Hopefully I can compete.

“So, what exactly is a C&C?” I say to her.

“Well, it stands for coffee and cream. I couldn’t tell you what’s exactly in it. I know it’s a coffee flavored liqueur along with some _Air Nation Dream_ , which is just a cream based liqueur. Other than that, I’m not too sure. What I can tell you, is that it’s amazing and you’re gonna love it. Mako makes the best drinks.”

As if on cue, Mako throws two shot glasses in front of us, flipping two bottles in each of his hands before catching them and pouring a little of their contents into each glass.

“Whoo!!” Asami says, holding up her hands.

Mako laughs, twisting the neck of a different bottle between his fingers, then adding a bit to our glasses. It’s a deep brown liquid, so I’m thinking that’s the coffee liqueur.

He finishes off the shots by popping the top on a fresh bottle of _Air Nation Dream_ , finishing off our glasses.

“Ladies,” he says, pushing the glasses towards us.

We grab our shots and Asami clinks her glass against mine.

“To new beginnings,” she says with a glint in her eye, and we throw our heads back to take the shot.

Holy hell is that sweet. Like, instant toothache sweet.

“What’d you think?” Asami says. Her and Mako are both excitedly awaiting my response.

“It was made very well!” I don’t know what to say without sounding whiny. It was okay, but I don’t think I’d want another one.

“She hated it.” Mako said knowingly. “But that’s okay, Korra! Tonight is all about trying new things, so let me fix you up something else.”

He hurries off as Asami gives me an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Korra!” she says, taking my shot glass from me and pushing it away.

“No, seriously, it’s fine! It was just a bit too sweet for my liking is all. You know, going from only really ever having straight vodka to that is kind of a complete 180.”

“Straight vodka?” Asami raises her eyebrows. “Is that how you all roll down in the Water Tribe?”

I puff my chest. “You know it, and I can outdrink the best of them.”

She laughs. ‘You’ll probably love the new top shelf tequila that Mako got in, then. We’ll have it before we go dancing so we can work it off. You’re gonna get a hell of buzz from it if the last liquor he got imported from the Fire Nation is of any reference.”

Someone pulls up a stool next to Asami, and we both turn to see who it is.

“Hey, guys!” Kai flashes us a bright smile, gesturing at our empty shot glasses. “Getting started without me, are ya?”

“Just barely!” I say. “We just walked in a little over 10 minutes ago.”

“Sweet, so I haven’t missed much! Isn’t this place great?” he gestures around him.

I must admit, it’s probably the coolest place I’ve ever been to. The color scheme is red and white, and the lights are dimmed so people can see the giant televisions lining the wall better. On the wall space where there are no television screens are see-through panels with live flames on the inside. The bar island is situated right in the middle of the bar, leading to the kitchen at the end of the building. The bar counter is lined with little white lights, and the rows and rows of bottles behind the counter are lighted with an orange glow. Silver chairs and tables (fireproof, Asami points out to me) fill the floor space, and there’s whole room dedicated to a dance floor that I can just barely make out through tinted windows separating it from the bar area. During moments when the bar chatter quiets, I can make out the muffled bass pounding as the windows slightly shake to the beat.

As I glance around at the tables, I can see that people are enjoying a ton of different drinks, in every color imaginable. One lady is sipping out of a tall glass that looks like it’s filled with a rainbow. I spot a man sipping a concoction out of half of a melon. There’s even a couple who are downing drinks that are glowing blue!

I hungrily eye a server who is bringing a plate of hot wings to a table. They look damn good, and when I catch a whiff of them my eyes actually water with the pure spicy heat emanating from them.

Maybe it’s not such a good idea to pair hot wings with a C&C shot.

I jump as the sound of a glass hitting the counter startles me. I turn to see Mako showing me his latest concoction.

“I think you’ll like this much better, Korra. I call it the Bloody Sunset. It’s grapefruit vodka with fresh squeezed lime, grapefruit and blood orange juice, and a little bit of fizz.”

The Bleeding Sunset looks great. He’s got it in a bullet shaped tumbler, and the liquids are layered to look like a legitimate sunset. It’s dark red at the bottom before giving way to a more softer pink, and the little bubbles I can see actually make me think of what it would be like to swim in a pink ocean. He’s garnished the drink with a slice of blood orange and lime.

“Thanks, Mako, this looks great!” I say, sliding the drink towards me.

“I brought you something to wash down that C&C shot though, before you try it.” He sets down a plate of something deep friend along with a pitcher of water.

“And Asami, here’s your Twister.” He sets down a glass in front of her that has a piece of lime and orange zest twisted together perfectly sitting on the top.

“Thank you!” she says, sipping her drink with a smile.

“And Kai, nice to see you. What can I get for you?” Mako says, bumping his fist against Kai’s.

“What kinds of beer do you have?” Kai says, and Mako’s face lights up like a kid at the Glacier Spirits Festival.

“I’ve got the BEST microbrew this week made by yours truly,” Mako says. “You’re gonna love it! I’ll be right back.” He hurries away.

“If you all don’t mind, I’m about to rip into this food, whatever it is.” I say, reaching towards the plate. It smells so damn good that I can’t wait any longer.

“Those are jalapeno poppers,” Asami says, grabbing one for herself. “They are the best in the City!”

I pick up a popper, and throw it into my mouth. The batter is light and crispy, giving way to a soft yet still slightly crunchy jalepeno underneath. The bite of the jalapeno is tempered by the smooth sharp cheddar inside the popper. These things are absolutely delicious.

“Mmm, Korra, you’ve got to try it with the sauce!” Kai says through a mouthful of food.

I grab another jalapeno and dip it into the sauce before taking a bite.

I didn’t think it was possibly for these things to get better, but I’m totally wrong. The sauce is the perfect complement, the cold chill of it contrasting with the heat and crispness of the popper. It’s a crème fraiche more than a sauce really, and I can taste notes of lime and cilantro amidst the smooth sour cream.

This is probably the only fried food that I have ever had that I can describe as refreshing. I take a sip of water as Mako returns with a beer bottle and glass in hand for Kai.

“Mako, you are amazing.” I say as he pours the beer for Kai.

“Thanks. Asami tells me all the time.” He smiles at Asami, who returns it briefly before averting her eyes and fiddling with her drink.

I know he doesn’t mean it in a snooty way, but still. _Ew_.

“Okay Kai, you’ve got to tell me honestly what you think. I call this brew _Triple Threat_. Your first taste is gonna be a bit muddled, but then three waves of flavor kick in. You should taste cloves, then get hit with some spicy hops before ending on a wheaty, almost sweet but with a zing, note.” Mako’s face looks so expectant; I sincerely hope Kai likes the beer or Mako just might cry.

“All right, let’s test this thing out.” Kai takes a sip, savoring the flavor for a moment. Mako is leaning towards him, waiting for his opinion.

Kai cringes, and Mako’s face looks like he just got stabbed or something.

“What??” Mako says. “What’s wrong?”

Kai gives him a sad look. “I’m sorry Mako. But this beer has ruined all other beers for me…”

All of a sudden his expression change to utter glee.

“…because THIS IS THE BEST BEER I HAVE EVER TASTED AND NOTHING WILL EVER BE ABLE TO TOP IT!”

“YES!!” Mako says, pumping a fist in the air. “You scared the shit outta me for a second!”

“Yeah,” Kai says, laughing. “I like to do that sometimes. But seriously, this beer is amazing.”

“Well, good to hear. Thanks,” Mako says. “I’m gonna clean up and then I’ll bring out that top shelf tequila, then we can go dancing!”

“Sounds good!” Asami says as Mako exits.

“Did you try your drink yet?” she says to me.

“Nah, but I’ll try it now!” I tip the glass to my lips, feeling something rough against the rim. I lick my lips.

 _Mmm_. Sugar! The drink itself is pretty damn good, a lot better than the C &C shot. The grapefruit is bitter, but I like bitter. The citrus fruits create a fresh taste, with no lingering sweetness save for the sugar on the rim. The fizz that Mako added is a nice complement also; my eyes water a bit as the drink burns my throat.

“This is really good,” I say to her. “Want to try it?”

“Sure!” she says, sliding her drink towards me also. “Try mine, too.”

Asami’s drink smells like a straight up lime. And since I love lime, I know I’m going to like this drink.

I take a sip, and holy hell, this is my favorite one yet. This drink is equivalent to laying on beach that’s sunny but not hot, a light breeze carrying the aroma of citrus to your nose as you relax. It’s airy and bubbly and crisp, the perfect marriage of orange and lime.

I tip the glass more until I get to the bottom, nearly choking on an ice cube.

Crap, I finished her entire drink.

“Korra!” Asami says. “You drank it all!”

“Sorry,” I shrug sheepishly. “It’s so good!”

She smiles. “I’m glad you liked it.”

I can start to feel the alcohol kicking in, warming the tips of my toes and making me flush a bit.

It relaxes me, making me feel at ease. I lean my elbow on the counter and stare at Asami.

“Hey,” I say to her, smiling.

“Hello,” she says to me, stirring her (well, my old one) drink. She surveys my face, and her eyes find their way to my lips.

“You’ve got a little sugar—“ she says to me, gesturing at her own mouth where I presume I have sugar on mine.

I move my tongue to the complete opposite side of where she’s indicating. “Oh—where is it? Am I getting it?”

Of course I’m not getting it, because I want her to get it. Preferably with her own lips.

She finishes the Bloody Sunset, leaning towards me. “No, you’re not getting it. Should I help you?”

Yes, help me Asami, you’re my only hope.

She’s moving closer to me now, laughing a little.

I move in towards her, so that our noses are touching. I end up giggling too.

“Can I get it—with my tongue?” Asami is angling her mouth towards mine, and I don’t know what’s wrong with me but that just makes me laugh really hard.

I pull away; Asami is pouting.

“Korra, let me get it!” she whines as I wipe my mouth off with the back of my hand.

We both haven’t even had that much to drink yet, but I get the feeling that we’re more than willing to use alcohol as an excuse for being super flirty with each other.

“But Mako’s here!” I say. Which is a very valid point, I think. What would he say if he came in and saw Asami getting sugar off of my mouth with her mouth? Probably not anything good.

“It’s okay, he can watch us. He’ll like it.” Asami says, her voice mischievous.

Okay, I am so turned on right now by her. I mean, when am I not? But it’s like, really bad right now. She’s talking all sexy and she looks so sexy and she kinda seems like she wants me and---

“All right guys, let’s go to the VIP room.” Mako’s back, cleaned up in a slightly open dark red button down and black jeans.

He opens a door built into the counter and joins us, leading the way.

“Whoo hoo, VIP!” Kai shouts, hot on Mako’s heels.

“Almost time to go dancing Korra,” Asami says, taking hold of my hand. “Are you gonna dance with me?”

She runs her loose hand up my stomach and I shiver at the contact.

“Yeah…definitely. But I’m really not that good of a dancer.” I say, as we hurry to catch up to Mako.

“That’s okay,” Asami says, a sparkle in her eye. “I can always dance _on_ you instead.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol at Korra legitimately coming out of the closet in the beginning of the chapter. 
> 
> Asami's flirty one liners will be the death of me and Korra. 
> 
> I really want jalapeno poppers RIGHT NOW. 
> 
> Asami's Twister drink is really a Cointreau Rickey, my personal favorite drink. Find the recipe [here](http://www.cointreau.us/rickey/)


	6. Taking a Shot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami get so close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot of swearing and heavy alcohol references in this chapter just so you are all aware!

The VIP room is very comfy. The lights are low and we’re all seated on a leather couch that’s shaped like a circle. Asami is half sitting on me, Mako is getting the tequila, and Kai is pressing a button on and off that shoots a little jet of purple flame out of the ceiling.

I put my arms around Asami, hugging her. “Hey,” I say to her, because she smells good and she’s warm and soft and I don’t know how to articulate how much I’m into her.

“Oh hey,” Asami smiles, melting into my embrace.

Kai glances at us. “What are you guys doing?”

I immediately let go of her and scoot away, putting a little distance between us.

“Nothing!” I say, my voice just a bit too high. “Asami said she was cold, so I wanted to, uh…warm her up.”

Asami nods. “Yeah!”

Kai fixes us with a skeptical look. “Really? Because you both have coats on and you’re kinda buzzed and this bar has actual real life flames shooting out of it so I’m not buying it.”

Okay…? What the hell does this kid want me to say? ‘Oh, you’re right Kai, I’m really just finding any excuse I can to touch her!’ Like, no. I’m not going to fucking say that.

Luckily Asami shuts him up. “Korra’s my friend. If she wants to give me a hug, I don’t see why that’s a problem.” She looks irritated.

Kai holds up his hands. “Fine, I’ll back off.”

I let out a sigh a little bit as Mako comes in through the door, the bustle of the bar blaring through the open doorway until he closes it again.

He’s got a beautiful bottle in his hands; the glass is tinged red with golden lettering, and the bottle itself is shaped like a pyramid. The neck of the bottle has a gold coil wrapped around it and the cap looks like a head piece that an ancient Fire Lord would wear.

“This is the good stuff, guys.” Mako says, opening the bottle and pouring some of its crystal clear contents into some lined up shot glasses.

“80 Proof,” he says as he finishes filling the last shot, capping the bottle.

“Shit, that’s almost 100% alcohol,” Kai says, his eyes wide.

“That’s right. It’s gonna be like literal fire going down your throat.” Mako takes a seat next to Asami, pulling her onto his lap.

She obliges and loops her arms around his neck, but she shoots an apologetic glance at me.

Kai notices, the little bitch.

“So Mako, how long have you and Asami been together?” Kai says, leaning forward. He shoots a quick smirk at me. I imagine smacking him in the face.

Mako smiles. “I’ve been good friends with Asami since we were little kids, but we started dating 2 years ago. And we’re still going strong, right babe?” He kisses her on the mouth, sucking her bottom lip, and I have the urge to punch him in the face.

Clearly, I'm on a roll with the imaginary face-hitting today.

Asami pulls away quickly. “It’s been good,” is all she says, sliding off of his lap. “Are we going to take the shots now?”

Mako looks at her weird. “In a second. What’s wrong, did you not want to kiss me?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Asami says, settling next to me.

“Why not? We might as well. Korra and Kai don’t care. They’re gonna be gone after this competition is over and all you’re going to have is me.” I hate the tone of entitlement in his voice. As if she couldn’t do better than him.

“Shut the fuck up, Mako.” Asami says, staring at him.

“What? You kick me out of your apartment, you don’t want to hang out ever, you never visit me at work, and you never even want to have sex anymore. What gives?!” Mako’s voice is raising with every sentence.

“I said, SHUT THE FUCK UP.” Asami is close to his face now, her words low and threatening.

“I’d back off, Mako,” I say, touching Asami’s elbow.

Mako gives me the definition of a death glare.

I know I shouldn’t have opened up my mouth. It’s not my place. And technically, I’m in the wrong here, totally flirting up and blatantly hitting on the girl that this guy is in a relationship with. Well, if you could even call what they have now a relationship. Maybe their different in private, but from what I’ve seen publicly, they’re very hot and cold with each other. And Asami did mention that they were drifting apart back on the boat…

Kai clears his throat. “Uh, about those shots, guys…let’s toast to what we are going to compete for, yeah?”

Mako softens a bit, smiles and nods at him. “Okay,” he says, grabbing his shot.

Aw fuck. I don’t know what I’m competing for. I glance at Asami and can tell she hasn’t thought about it either. We grab our shots anyway.

Kai raises his glass, “I’m toasting to one million mother fucking yuans,” he says, grinning wildly. “I’m gonna be rich.”

“All right, all right,” Mako says, raising his shot. “I’m competing for a full ride to Republic City University for my brother, Bolin.”

Asami smiles softly at that. “That’s really nice, Mako.”

“Yeah,” he says, not looking at her.

If it bothers Asami, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she picks up her shot glass, raising it. “To needing more time to think.”

I quickly pick up my glass too. “I second that.”

“All right then, let’s drink!” Kai says.

We all clink our glasses together before throwing our heads back to take the shots.

I know even before the tequila slides down my throat that it’s going to burn like a bitch. The smell of it alone stings my nose and mouth, and when the liquid finally hits me I feel like I had my mouth over one of those fire jets. It freaking hurts and I want to spit it all out, but it settles in my stomach before I can react. I squeeze my eyes shut and shake my head rapidly.

“Euughh!!” I say, gritting my teeth. But just as soon as the fire and bitterness arrived it’s gone, replaced by a warm feeling through my throat and landing in my stomach. I shake my arms out as I feel the after burn, knowing I’m about to get woozy real soon.

“ONE MORE!” Mako shouts, standing up to re-fill our glasses.

“Oh fuck no,” I say under my breath, but Asami hears me.

“Here, we’ll go half and half,” she pours half of her shot in my glass to save us both from the horrors of a whole one.

“You’re a lifesaver,” I say with relief, bracing myself and shooting the last of the tequila in my glass.

“Whoo!” Asami says, slamming her shot down on the table.

“What’s this stuff called? I’ve got to get me some,” Kai says as Mako pushes the bottle towards him.

“ _Azukai_ ,” Mako says with pride. “Aged in white oak barrels for maximum smoky flavor. The Fire Nation only makes a few bottles a year, I was lucky enough to get my hands on one.”

“Thanks man, that was quite the stuff!” Kai says, getting up. “Whoa, I can already feel it.”

That’s for sure. Everything’s moving a bit slower and my senses are heightened yet kinda duller. I run my hands through my hair, loving the relaxed and loose feeling the tequila is giving me.

Kai’s leaving, saying something about going to dance. Mako is by Asami, he’s kissing her cheek, saying he’s sorry and wants her to dance with him. I don’t want this to happen. I want to dance with Asami, she wanted to dance with me. I want to take my blazer off because I feel really hot. I wonder if I’m able to float to the dance floor? I don’t want to walk. I scoot over to Asami and tug her jacket.

“Hey izzit okay if I take my blazer off, even though it’s part of the imeanmy outfit?” I say, my words kinda mashing together even though I didn’t mean for them to.

“Whatever you want Korra,” Asami is smiling at me, I think she is looking at my boobs too. “Whatever you wanna do you do it.”

“Okay, I’ll do it later, wanna dance?” I say getting up shakily. Okay, that tequila got me blasted pretty fast. I have little control over what’s coming out of my mouth right now.

Asami is just staring at me smiling, tilting her head and gazing at me like I’m amazing or something.

“Remember, you said you were gonna dance on me?” I say, giving her a toothy grin.

Mako laughs really hard. “What? Asami, what?”

Asami laughs too. “Mm hmm yeah I still want to! Is it okay Mako?”

He holds her waist and nuzzles his nose into her cleavage. “No, I want you for myself.”

“Mako!” I whine. “It’s time to let go now!”

Someone opens the door.

“Uh…Mako?” A guy dressed in all black says, looking nervously at Mako’s face pressed into Asami’s boobs.

Mako pulls away and looks up. “What?” he growls, looking super pissed. “Can’t I have some private time with my girlfriend?”

“Well, I thought you would like to know, the City’s top food critic is here right now and wants you to prepare a drink for him, sooo…can you do that?”

Mako nearly jumps out of his freakin shoes. “Shit, Tahno is here? Crap, I need a good review from him or this place is toast!”

He kisses Asami on the cheek. “Hey, save that dance for me. I’ll be back.” Mako hurries out of the room, and soon Asami and I are left alone.

“Come on,” she says, taking my hand and leading me out of the room.

I follow her through a maze of people and I can smell sweat and fried food, the lights and fire look so vivid, and soon I’m in a dark room, scantily clad people all around, writhing in time to a pulsating beat. This must be the dance floor.

I shrug off my blazer, throwing it on a nearby table.

Asami is watching me, biting her lip. “Korra, can you take mine off?”

“Yeah, yeah c’mere,” I say, pulling her towards me.

I slide my hands up her torso, feeling a tight, toned stomach underneath, and I’m careful, even in my blurry drunken haze, to run my hands up the sides of her breasts so I’m not completely groping her.

She lets out a little moan when I do that, and I want to swallow it and take her lips and kiss them until we can’t anymore. Until we’re a tangled naked mess on the floor, tasting each other, touching each other. It’s all I want right now. All I’ve wanted since I met her.

I push the jacket off of her shoulders, really glad that she decided to wear the off the shoulder crop top. It leaves so much of her pale, creamy skin exposed, and I want to run my tongue along her collarbone and taste her.

Her cheeks are flushed as she comes closer to me, so close that her lips are just touching mine.

“Korra,” she whispers.

“Asami,” I say back, trying to close the small space between us, but she pushes me back.

“You really wanna know why I wanted you to wear this?” Asami says, running a finger down the front of my skin tight, white tank top.

“So I could see every line of your hard, flat stomach.” She keeps her eyes locked on mine, running her open palm back up the front of my body.

“So I could feel the sweat on your chest, the thud of your heart as I pressed my body against yours.”

She moves her hands to my arms, lightly raking her fingernails down my biceps, never breaking eye contact.

I think I might be melting.

“So I could grip your arms and squeeze, run my hands along your thighs and smile as your breath catches every time the tips of my fingers grazed your skin.”

I can’t freaking breathe.

“And those shoes?” Asami nods at me feet. “So you could dance all night with me.“

My heart is actually threatening to rip straight out of my chest with the way it’s pounding. My legs are complete jello and I know it’s not just because of those shots. It’s because of Asami Sato, spelling her attraction out to me so plainly. Can you say turn-on??

I don’t know what to say to her. I am honest to god at a loss for words, and I can’t help what comes out of my mouth next:

“So like, do you think I’m cute?”

Asami takes hold of both of my hands, pulling me towards the dance floor, as a song with low, booming bass and suave, biting dubstep begins to blare.

“Shut up and dance with me.”

* * *

 

My head’s swimming and the music is blaring, pounding, hammering in time to my pulse. Asami’s body is soft, sticky and scorching against mine, I’m grinding my hips against her and it’s _oh so good_ as she presses herself back further, cranes her neck to nip at my jaw while holding my head.

I grip her waist tighter in response, turning her around so she’s fully facing me. Her cheeks are rosy and her shirt is falling off of her shoulders, way more than it's supposed to, exposing the tops of her full breasts. I seriously can’t handle her right now, she’s driving me _insane._

I try to pull up my own fallen bra strap but Asami stops me, picking it up with her teeth and dragging it up my shoulder, making sure her lips stay on my skin the entire way. I shiver and move my hands down to her ass, pushing her closer so that her chest is mashed against mine. I have to stop myself from gasping as Asami places a light kiss on the tender skin between my jaw and neck, and I’m thinking about how I’m gonna fuck her right here, right now on this dance floor when she pulls away abruptly.

She runs her hand through her hair, gyrating her body in time to the beat as she drops down low before slowly rising up. “Do you like it?”

“I love you,” I say, moving to hold her from behind again as we step to the beat.

“No you don’t,” she says, smiling almost cynically. “You love my body, my face. You don’t know me.”

If the alcohol wasn't mellowing me out so much I’d probably be offended by that, even though I have no right to be. She’s right in that I don’t really know her, but I don’t just like her for her looks.

“Not yet, but I really want to,” I kiss her exposed shoulder. “More than I’ve wanted to get to know anyone in my life.”

She turns around, holding my hands for a moment before letting go. “You’re so sweet,” she says, sliding her hands up my tank top. I shiver into her touch at the contact.

“Oooh, abs,” she says, smiling.

I laugh. “Hell yeah! Hey, I’m sorry for saying I love you, that was weird.” I say putting my hands on the small of her back while she feels me up. Her hands feel so smooth and slightly cold against my hot skin.

“It’s okay, just a little early is all,” she says taking her hands out from under my shirt. “I’m having a lot of fun though with you. You make me feel good,”

“Yeah?” I say, grabbing her hands to twirl her before leaning her back to dip her. “You deserve it.”

I pull her back up and she’s breathless, nose touching mine and hands clasped behind my neck. She’s looking at my lips, I know it, and I’m looking at hers, slightly parted and soft, white teeth contrasting against deep red lipstick, and I’m wondering if she tastes like vanilla or cherries or something else when a pair of strong arms rips us apart.

“This is BULL SHIT Asami!” Fucking **shit**. It’s Mako.

“Kai said something about you two acting weird but I didn’t believe him for a second! Guess I should have. What the hell are you doing with Korra?”

“We’re just dancing, Mako,” I say, shouting to be heard over the music.

“YOU’RE NOT DANCING, YOU’RE PRACTICALLY HAVING SEX!” He says, fists clenched.

“Look, Mako, I’m having fun,” Asami says, grabbing me arm. “Just let it go.”

“Let it go? I should just let this Water Tribe girl, fresh off the boat, grind up on you? And you!” He points at me. “I should just let my girlfriend of two years blatantly feel up someone that isn’t me?”

He shakes his head, turning back to Asami. “I don’t know where you learned your fucking manners from, but this isn’t right.”

Asami looks down. “I’m sorr—“

“No,” Mako holds up a hand. “No, you know, we both know there’s been something between us lately. But this isn’t how you solve the problem. Maybe I should go find some random girl and touch her all over, how about that?”

Asami goes to him, tries to take his hand. “Mako, I—“

“Just stop. We’re talking tomorrow, I can’t now. I need to cool off.” He looks at me.

“I’m going to fucking rip you apart in the competition tomorrow.”

I can’t look him in the eye. No matter how good and right it felt, I know Asami and I  shouldn’t have been dancing like that with each other. _Fuck._

Mako leaves and Asami’s arms are crossed as she stares at the ground. “Let’s go home,” she says, and I wordlessly follow her through the EXIT doors, pissed at myself and pissed at the world for making the girl I’m in love with so totally not single.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMN IT I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO TO BE MAD AT IN THIS SITUATION. 
> 
> Korra and Asami dirty dancing gives me life, even if it was just for a moment. The song I had in mind for that little bit was this German song that I randomly love, listen to it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBKwKaFCgYY)and read the part where Korra and Asami are grinding again and you'll be like DAMN.
> 
> Freaking Kai needs to stop messing with Korrasami development   
> LOL at Tahno being the food critic  
> Also the tequila name is a mashup of Azula Zuko and Mai as I you probably all figured.


	7. Now Everything Has Gone to Shit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a night of bad decisions, Korra is sad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this incredibly short chapter but it's been a week since the last update so I wanted to get a little something posted!

The walk home is quiet, almost unbearably so. The silence weighs heavy with knowledge of our actions, especially now that the last of our alcohol induced buzz has worn off.

As we walk, I steal a glance at Asami. Her arms are crossed tightly as she looks at the ground, her steps brisk.

“Are you okay?” I say, trying my best to keep pace with her.

She doesn’t respond.

I don’t even know why I said that. Of course she isn’t okay. Her long-time boyfriend just witnessed her intimately dancing with me, a girl that she’s known for literally two days. It’s shitty. Really shitty. We effed up and now we have to deal with the consequences, and with the first day of competition tomorrow looming over us, the whole thing is just breeding ground for a really crappy mental and emotional state of mind.

I don’t say anything else to her the whole way. Instead, I just stare straight ahead with my hands jammed in my pockets, looking but not really seeing anything. I feel cold, but I can feel a sheen of sweat on my skin. I wish I could call Naga and take a ride, clear my head a bit. Too bad she’s half way around the world.

When we finally reach Asami’s apartment, she holds the door open for me as I step inside wordlessly, heading to my room. I close the door and immediately peel off my jeans, trading them for some baggy sweat pants. I flop onto my bed, holding my head in my hands.

I feel so conflicted. Yes, I am obviously very physically attracted to Asami. Yes, I acknowledge that my flirting and dancing with her was completely out of line. I am painfully aware that she has a boyfriend. BUT. I really like Asami. We get along naturally. From the moment she brought me tea on the boat I felt something click in me, like she is supposed to be a part of my life. There’s something between us and I want to explore it, but it can’t happen. She’s taken. I can’t seem to get that through my thick skull.

Maybe calling my mom will help me clear my head a bit, and possibly salvage what’s left of this awesome-turned-horrible night. I pick up the phone next to my bed and dial my home phone number, my heart sinking each time it rings. Maybe my parents are out or something….

I’m about to hang up when I hear the phone click on the other end. “Hello?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Hey, mom.”

“Oh, Korra!” my mom says, clearly happy. “Honey, we miss you so much.”

I laugh. “It’s been two days, mom. But I miss you, dad and Naga too.”

“Korra, I swear, that polar bear dog of yours is lost without you. I try to play fetch with her, but she’s so fast and…I don’t really have your stamina,” she says.

“I’ll be home soon enough, don’t worry. Only four more days!” I say, and it’s then when it hits me that it also means that I’m leaving Asami in four days. For the second time tonight I feel sick and hollow inside.

“Sweetie…?” my mom says, after the apparently long pause I took.

“Is everything okay?”

I debate whether to tell her or not about how I am definitely falling in love with Asami Sato, yes, THE Asami Sato, but she has a boyfriend though it didn’t stop us from getting really comfortable with each other and by comfortable I mean a little bit of eye-fucking and teasing and very physical dancing that said boyfriend happened to witness _, BUT_ , I decide against it. She’ll know soon enough when I return home with a broken heart, inevitably leaving a piece of it in Republic City with Asami.

“I’m good, don’t worry. Just having anxiety over the competition tomorrow.” Which is also true. Competing against my fellow tribesmen and women is one thing, but competing against the best in the world while being broadcasted on television is something else entirely. Plus, Mako claims he’s going to destroy me (I don’t blame him), and I’m pretty sure Kuvira would flat out murder me if she had the chance.

“Honey, you’ll be fine. The whole village is gathering at the town hall to watch your competition on the television. We will all be rooting for you! Speaking of which, have you decided what you are going to compete for?” she says cheerily.

Aw shit. I groan. “Crap, mom, I don’t even know.”

It’s easier said than done to choose whatever you want, in the whole entire world, as a competition prize. And right now, the only thing I truly want is a chance with Asami, and it's keeping me from thinking about anything else.

“Any ideas?” I say weakly.

“How about a life time supply of hot chocolate for your dear old mom?” my mom laughs, eventually stopping when she realizes that I’m not joining in her fun.

“All right sweets, sorry for the joke. I know this is a heavy decision to make. Why don’t you give it back to the community in some way? There’s always people in need of help or guidance.”

I ponder her words.

Something that’s always bothered me is that the Southern Water Tribe does not have a Culinary Institute, an establishment that all the other nations have. My dad always said it was systematic oppression, to ensure that the Southern Water Tribe would never have a winner. The world likes to see us as great fisherman and hunters, and that's about it. The fine arts and anything creative, really, are all reserved for people from the other nations. There’s a reason why me making it to the top is such a big deal. I learned all I know from my parents, who learned from their parents. For people who were born with parents that aren’t good cooks, how can they ever have the chance to explore their passion? There’s no one to learn from. They don’t have the luxury of signing up for instruction like someone in the Air or Fire or Earth nation would do. Maybe it’s time I changed that.

“I think I know what to do,” I say, feeling a little better.  Playing to get a Culinary Institute built in the Southern Water Tribe may not be the expected choice, but it’s an important thing to compete for nonetheless.

“That’s great, Korra! I’d ask you what you’ve decided on, but I’d rather keep up the suspense and wait to see you announce it on the television tomorrow. What are you planning to do with the rest of your night?”

Bury myself in my pillow and cry myself to sleep.

“Maybe read a book or something and then go to bed.”

“Good, that’s good. Something to calm yourself followed by a good night’s rest. Well, honey, I suppose I should let you go. Your father and I love you so much. And of course, good luck tomorrow! We’re all rooting for you!”

“Thanks mom. I’ll see you soon. Love you too,” I say sincerely, hanging up the phone.

Well, some of the weight is lifted off of my chest now that I know what I want to compete for. But I really need to go talk to Asami. She’s probably feeling as horrible as I do right now, and maybe talking things out can kind of clear up stuff for us.

I wrap a blanket around my shoulders before exiting my room, going down the hall to Asami’s.

Her door is cracked open slightly so I prod it open the rest of the way with my foot, peering in. Asami is nowhere to be seen.

I don’t spot a light on in the bathroom, so I make my way to the living room. The television is off, and there’s no one on the couch.

Does Asami also have the superpower of invisibility? It honestly wouldn’t surprise me.

A sniffle alerts me to a presence in the kitchen. I pad across the carpeted floor and shiver a bit when my bare soles hit the hardwood of the kitchen floor.

My heart sinks when I see Asami.

She’s sitting with an oversized t-shirt on (one of Mako’s, I suspect) that goes down to her knees, back against the fridge, glass of water in her hand and her eyes closed.

There’s black makeup smudged under her eyes, and it looks like she’s wiped her lipstick off with the back of her hand.

I want nothing more than to wrap her in the blanket that I have, hold her, and kiss the top of her head.

Instead, I quietly sit next to her, hugging my knees to my chest.

“Korra, I shouldn’t have danced with you like that.” She’s not looking at me.

No. _NO_. This is not her fault. I’ve been pushing it.

“No, it’s my fault. I know you are in a relationship with Mako, I should have had better self-control. Though, the alcohol wasn’t really helping things,” I say, trying to lighten the tone a little.

Asami doesn’t respond. Maybe I’m way off about her. About whatever I think we have or could have. Maybe she doesn’t have feelings for me…maybe it was just the tequila, and she was pissed at Mako, and I was there.

“Do you…regret it?” I say quietly.

“No,” she says firmly before the words are barely out of my mouth.

I let out a tiny breath of relief that I didn’t know I was holding.

She shakes her head. “No, it’s just…just because I don’t regret it doesn’t mean it should have happened. It’s not fair to Mako, and it’s not fair to you. I just feel so stupid.”

“Asami, you don’t have to shoulder this yourself. Like I said, it takes two to tango.”

I put a hand on her shoulder and after a moment, she pulls away if somewhat reluctantly.

“We can’t do this anymore. Whatever this is. At least, not right now.” She picks my hand up from her shoulder, rubbing her thumb over it before letting go.

I really didn’t think this night could get worse, but I’ve been wrong before, and this is clearly not an exception.

“I want to keep things professional and platonic between us. Until I… sort things out. Can you do that for me?”

Asami turns to look at me now, her eyes brimming with tears but resolved nonetheless. Her lips are fixed in a hard line, like she’s trying to convince herself of her own words.

Can I? Every fiber of my being years for this girl. My heart beats for her. I know I’m in deep but I can’t help it; I’m inexplicitly drawn to her and want more of her. I don’t know if I could ever settle for just being her friend. But I’m not going to deny her this wish, even if it will slowly kill me.

“Of course,” I say, and I can’t keep the sadness from creeping into my voice.

If it’s what makes her happy, then that’s all that matters.

I don’t know if she has anything else to say to me, but I can’t stand to be here another moment.

I move to get up, taking the blanket off of my shoulders and lay it across Asami’s legs.

“All right, well, I guess I’ll see you in the morning, then,” I force a smile, trying not to show how crushed my feelings are right now, how much my heart hurts.

She only nods at me, as if she’s in a daze.

I’m about to disappear behind the corner when she speaks.

“Korra,” Asami calls out clearly.

I dip my head back again. “Yeah?”

“If there is anything between us, I want to explore it with a clean conscience. That’s why I’m doing this,” she says, waiting for my reply.

“I understand, Asami. You’re doing the right thing. Good night,” I say giving her a small lopsided smile before retreating to my bedroom, feeling slightly better at her words.

There is hope yet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THERE IS ALWAYS HOPE KORRA
> 
> Especially when you're being written by an author who cant't stand to not have you and Asami together for more than like, one chapter. 
> 
> What do you all think about Korra competing for getting a Culinary Institute built in SWT?


	8. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after a disastrous night turns out to be pretty damn good.

_I turn my face as a particularly rambunctious wave sprays me with water._

_Asami’s laughing, and I can’t help but join in._

_The beach is beautiful, it’s fine, white sand glittering softly under the moonlight, casting an ethereal glow over Asami._

_She’s twirling now, a red, satin cover-up falling across her shoulders, and a smile spreads across my face as I watch her._

_“Come here!” I call to her, beckoning._

_She stops moving. “I can’t,” Asami says, a tear rolling down her cheek._

_“Why?” I say, looking at her quizzically. What’s making her cry?_

_“Because… you’re leaving…” she says, and it’s only then that I look at my feet, realizing I’m on a boat._

_All of a sudden I’m thrown back, being pulled away extremely fast as Asami grows smaller and smaller right before my eyes until I can’t even see her._

_I reach out for her. I call out her name._

_But she’s gone._

_\--_

“Korra?”

There’s a soft knock on my door, and I pull myself up, rubbing my eyes.

“What’s up?” I say groggily, glancing at the clock. It’s 7:00 AM in the morning. KILL ME.

The door pushes open slightly and Asami walks in, along with the tantalizing aroma of pancakes. Suddenly I’m very awake, and Asami laughs as my stomach growls.

“Want some breakfast?” she says, standing next to my bed. I’m surprised to see that she’s fully dressed.

“Yes! Whatever you made smells amazing. How long have you been up?” I say, throwing off my covers before moving to my closet to find a robe to slip into.

“Since six, actually,” Asami says, leading the way out of my room.

My eyes widen. “Six? Ew, Asami! Why?”

“I met with Mako. We had a coffee together,” she says easily as she grabs some plates from a cabinet above her stove.

I tense up as I take a seat at the counter. So she met with Mako. She’s in a good mood so it seems like things went well. But “well” could mean they either made up, or…

“We broke up,” Asami said, meeting my eyes as she puts a plate down in front of me.

YES. _YES_. My eyebrows raise so high I’m surprised they don’t fly off into the horizon. _Be cool Korra, be a good friend. Remember, Asami wants to be platonic._

I transition into a more neutral facial expression before I continue, the words coming out of my mouth not quite matching my thoughts.

“Asami, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

_Asami, I’m so freaking excited to hear that._

“Do you want to talk about it?”

_Do you want to date me?_

Asami shrugs a little. “Well, Mako had texted me last night shortly after you went to bed. He said that he wanted to talk in the morning before the competition just so we could compete with clear heads.”

I watch as Asami turns up the flame higher on the stove, heating up a pan with two perfect circles of pale pancake batter on it before placing a cover over the pan.

“I agreed, and so this morning we met at a little café called _Iroast_. We were able to talk about things pretty easily since we seemed to have slept off whatever anger we had from last night.”

She pauses to remove the cover from the pan. I can see little bubbles forming on the batter, and Asami easily flips the two pancakes, letting them cook on the other side.

“I told Mako that I’ve been unhappy for a while, but moreso as of late, and he agreed in feeling the same way, which made it a lot easier on me. We talked a bit about him seeing us dancing, and he said that while he was mad at the time, he has enough respect for me to not let that one lapse in judgment taint our whole relationship. Our breakup was going to happen one way or another, and that just happened to be the straw that broke the camel yak’s back,” Asami said as she turned flame off.

The pancakes have reached a beautiful soft gold color, a little less than an inch in thickness.

“Are you guys still going to be friends, then?” I say as Asami stacks the two pancakes on my plate.

She picks up a sifter and douses the pancakes with a snowy shower of powdered sugar, making my mouth water.

“Yeah. We’ve been friends since we were young kids, and now that we know we don’t work in a romantic relationship, things can go back to normal,” Asami says, patting a dollop of whipped cream on top of the pancakes.

She moves to get a pint of vanilla ice cream from the freezer and picks up a mini scooper from one of her drawers before returning to the counter, scooping a perfect ball of ice cream onto the pancakes.

“That’s cool that you guys can do that. It says a lot about the respect you have for each other,” I say as Asami adds just a bit more whipped cream on top of the ice cream, sprinkling the cakes with diced almonds and garnishing with a mint leaf.

She nods in response to my words. “Mako and I will always have a mutual understanding. I know I’ll always be able to count on him, and him on me.”

Asami pushes the plate in front of me, along with some silverware rolled in a napkin.

 “All finished! I hope you like them,” she looks at me nervously.

“All right then, moment of truth,” I say, unrolling my silverware and cutting a piece of pancake off. I open my mouth, ready for the first bite when Asami grabs my wrist.

“WAIT!” she says, like it’s poison or something.

I lower my fork with a bewildered look on my face.

“What’s wrong??” I say, quirking an eyebrow.

Asami opens the microwave and brandishes a little pitcher of syrup, holding it and waving a hand over it like some lady showing a prize on a game show.

“Maple syrup,” she says, her tone mock serious.

I scoff playfully. “That’s it?? Jeez, I thought there was something wrong!”

“There is something wrong. You can’t have pancakes without maple syrup!” she says like it’s an undisputed fact of life.

I accept the pitcher from her and lightly drizzle my pancakes.

“Okay, moment of truth, take two,” I say, finally taking my first bite as Asami watches, fists clenched at her side as she watches me expectantly.

I close my eyes at the contrast of the warm, fluffy cake with the cold whipped cream. The hot, sticky syrup combines with the other ingredients to create a perfect symphony of sweetness.

Asami has managed to make the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting, but they still have a slight spongy density to them. I’ve never been able to achieve that golden ratio of immaculate pancake texture. I feel like if I ever took a bite of a cloud, it would feel like taking a bite of these pancakes. Soft, light, and airy.

After I finish the bite I put my fork down and stare at her.

“Asami, best pancakes I’ve ever had, hands down.” I smack my hands on the counter for emphasis.

She lets out a sigh, doing a cute little dance.

“Yes!! I’m so glad you like them,” she says with an adorable smile.

“How did you get them so perfectly fluffy?” I say, eating some more, this time with a bit of the ice cream from the top.

She disappears for a moment, bending down to get something from a cabinet.

When she pops back up, she’s holding some kind of steel canister and a little thing that looks like a thick bullet or something.

“What is that? Should I be scared?” I say between mouthfuls of pancake.

Asami laughs. “No! I made this. I call it the _Sato Whip_.”

I raise a brow playfully. “Sounds kinky.”

She rolls her eyes but smiles anyway. “If whipping up the perfect batter gets you off, then yeah, totally kinky. This thing is a lifesaver. I’ve always wanted a way to get an airy batter, and after many experiments in beating the living shit out of eggs, mixing in different temperatures of bowls, and tons of other stuff, I gave up and was doing the dishes.”

Her face lights up. “And _that_ was when I realized I was going about it the wrong way. I needed to think FOAM! Just like the foamy, soapy bubbles in the sink. So then I thought, what is exactly is foam?”

Asami looks at me quizzically as if I’m supposed to answer.

I just shrug apologetically, stuffing more pancake into my mouth.

“Exactly, nothing but trapped pockets of gas!” she says, smiling.

“Which, I reasoned, could be applied to a liquid batter. SO,” she said, holding up her contraption, “I decided to make my own kind of mixer.”

“You simply pour your batter into it, then pop one of these little N2O cartridges into this compartment here,” she says, pointing to a little opening next to a nozzle, “close it all up, and then shake a few times, and you squeeze the contents through the nozzle to get a voluminous, light batter every time. All thanks to the teamwork of gas and pressure.”

She bows, and I clap obnoxiously, whistling.

“Holy crap, Asami. That’s genius!” I said, a bit in awe.

“The things I will do for perfect pancakes,” she says wistfully, putting the _Sato Whip_ away.

“Speaking of which,” she says, peering at my plate. “Give me that last bite of your pancakes.”

I pull the plate closer to me. “No way, they’re mine!”

“I made them!” Asami says, reaching.

“For me,” I say, laughing, as she squirms to grab the plate.

“Korraaaa, please!” Asami pleads, pouting.

Of course, I lose all gumption and instantly melt on the spot.

“Okay, okay. But only if I get to feed it to you,” I smirk, thinking that will make her give up.

Instead, she smiles devilishly. “Deal,” she says, walking over to me.

She stops right in front of my knees, hands on her hips.

“Don’t stab my mouth with the fork,” she says seriously.

“Oh please, you’ll be fine,” I say, lifting the last forkful of pancake to her lips as she bends forward.

“Mmm…” she says, smiling as she captures the bite, chewing and swallowing quickly.

I watch as her tongue peeks out, lapping up a bit of syrup from the corner of her mouth.

“Do you taste good?” I said, eyes never leaving her lips.

SHIT. WHAT THE FUCK DID I JUST SAY?!

I cough SUPER loud. “Do they taste good? The pancakes?”

“Yes to both questions,” she says with a wink before picking up my plate to take to the sink.

I feel my face heat up to probably about 450 degrees. Good job being platonic Korra, real good job.

Asami didn’t seem to mind though. I come up beside her with a towel to dry my dish that she just washed.

“Thanks,” she says to me, smiling. “Hey, since we’ve got a lot of time to kill before 4:00 later today, would you want me to give you Asami Sato’s Officially Awesome Tour of Republic City?” she flips her hair and I laugh.

“Um, ABSOLUTELY!! Let me get dressed quick and then we can head out!” I say, making my way to my room.

“Wear comfortable shoes!” Asami calls out as I close my door.

I pick out the white wedge sneakers with the blue stripes that I wore here, and throw on a long sleeved navy tee with some dark wash skinny jeans. After brushing my hair, and brushing my teeth, I go out to meet Asami in the living room.

As I draw nearer she hands me a piece of paper, titled “ **Korra and Asami’s Best Day Ever** ”.

There’s a blue and red heart drawn in the corner and a list of things that will supposedly make up the best day ever:

 **8:00 AM** **Botanical Garden Bonanza** (Asami drew a very cute little cartoony picture of herself with a flower in her hair next to this one)

 **9:00 AM** **Visit to my Second Home** (there’s a little gear drawn next to this one)

**10:00 AM Party at the Park**

I glance up at Asami, my eyebrows raised. “Party at the park?” I say, smirking.

She pouts. “Shut up, I was trying to make it sound cool.”

I keep reading.

**11:00 AM Market Trip and Boat Ride**

**The End!**

I tuck the itinerary in my back pocket, smiling. What a lovable dork.

“Okay, literally how did you make this? I haven’t been gone for more than 15 minutes.” I say.

“What can I say? I work fast,” Asami says, getting up. She’s dressed in a maroon long sleeve tee, black skinny jeans and calf length black boots.  Her hair is tied loosely in the back and her makeup is light today, though she is still wearing the lipstick that matches her shirt.

Since I’m clearly the best at being platonic, I compliment her.

“I have to say Asami, I really love your lipstick. It’s always on point. I mean, you’re always on point, but I really love that shade on you.”

She smiles, blushing lightly. “Thanks! I get it custom made. No one else in the world has the exact shade. Long ago I used to get my lipstick from the cosmetics shop like everyone else, but nothing was ever dark enough for me. I wanted something that made a statement, and luckily, one of my dad’s top chemists was able to figure out how to get the perfect shade for me. Plus, she adds in a little raspberry flavor oil too.”

Asami laughs. “When I first started wearing it, I found myself constantly re-applying it because it tasted so good, and I kept licking it off.”

“Whoa,” I say, staring at her mouth as she talks.

Yeah, for the second time today (and sadly in less than an hour), I’m definitely imagining tasting her lips again. Just a taste. Like, what if I just tripped and my mouth “accidentally” fell on hers? I mean, it’s an accident, I can’t help that, right?

I’m startled out of my daze as Asami pushes me lightly. “Korra?” she says, looking at me weird.

“Sorry, sorry,” I smile sheepishly.

“Maybe your chemist could hook me up? I want my lips to taste good too,” I say. “Maybe blueberries or cotton candy? Ooo, yeah, cotton candy would be awesome!”

Asami has an amused expression on her face. “Cotton candy, huh? I’m sure you don’t need it. I bet Korra is a great flavor already.”

_What the ----??!!!???_

“Uh, I—uh,” I babble out like a short-circuited robot.

Asami is bent over dying of laughter. “I’m just teasing you!”

I groan. “Asami, staaaaaaaahhhp.”

“All right, all right. Let’s get going. The Botanical Garden Bonanza is awaiting!” She smiles and gestures to me, and I follow her out the door.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: this girl will be the death of me.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Korra is thirsty af
> 
> lol 10:00 AM PARTY AT THE PARKKK
> 
> Who else wants to go on Asami Sato's Officially Awesome Tour of Republic City? Well, you're in luck, because the next couple chapters will be these nerds going through Asami's itinerary. Flirting and bonding is bound to ensue. 
> 
> The Sato Whip is basically the iSi Gourmet Whip which legitimately uses Nitrous oxide to make airy batter. Watch a video of it in action [here.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnliInhO6Sg)
> 
> Asami's pancakes are a recipe from Cooking with Dog, which is the GREATEST COOKING SHOW EVER. Watch the video [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyUzl_VrumM), you'll probably end up subscribing. 
> 
> Also Mako and Asami were able to break up so easily because they've been friends for so long and both felt the relationship was failing, and I don't think they are the type to be bitter and really just want each other to be happy. So they didn't make it a big deal and broke things off cleanly.


	9. Botanical Garden Bonanza

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Asami and Korra have fun at the botanical gardenzzzzz

As we near the gates of Republic City’s own very large Botanical Garden (hand in hand with Asami, I might add…I guess hand-holding is becoming a thing for us), I notice that there’s a distinct lack of people in and around it.

“Place looks pretty dead. Weird, huh, ‘Sami?” I say as we stride up to the fancy-ass gates. I’m not lying when I say the gate doors are freaking huge. I mean, they’re not as tall as Asami’s skyscraper of an apartment building, but they’re high enough to make me strain my neck a bit.

The gate is shimmering gold, catching light in all the right places, and the black pillars bordering the gate are encrusted with emeralds. Whoever designed this thing had great taste.

While I’ve been checking out the architecture, Asami’s had her nose practically glued to a small sign hung on the gate’s doors.

I sidle up to her, reading over her shoulder like a complete asshole before she shoves me away playfully.

“Korra, don’t read over my shoulder!” she says, laughing.

“Well, what does it say?” I ask as she moves aside, waving me towards the sign.

“Read for yourself,” Asami says, and I step up to read the loopy text.

_Yasuko Sato Botanical Gardens Closed Today for a Private Event_

_We Deeply Apologize For Any Inconvenience_

Ugh. Seriously? That sucks. What kind of----

_WAIT._

**Yasuko Sato?!**

As in _Asami’s mom_ Yasuko Sato??

My thoughts must have been playing out clear as day on my face, because when I turn to look at Asami, she’s wearing a highly amused grin.

“Yeah, my mom built this place,” she says in response to my internal question, stepping back and gesturing towards the top of the gate.

Sure as shit, _Yasuko Sato Botanical Gardens_ is spelled out in shiny gold, and I’m left both in awe that Asami’s mom built this and bafflement that I have been staring at this gate and was somehow not able to notice the large and clearly displayed lettering. Leave it to me to be observant and totally un-observant at the same time.

“I’ll tell you this much; I can see where you get your eye for style from. The outside of this place alone is amazing. It looks like the gates into heaven!” I say in wonder.

Asami laughs. “That was the goal. Mom wanted to make it look so beautiful that any passerby couldn’t resist stopping in to take a look at the garden. If you think this is cool, wait till we go inside!”

And to be honest, now that I know her mom built this thing, I’m kind of 100000 times more excited to go through the garden than I was before. I was really expecting some shit hole place with dead weeds and crap on the inside, but anything with the Sato name on it is top notch. I don’t think this will be any different.

Asami grabs my hand (see, told you this was a thing now) and leads me to an area a good ways away from the main entrance. There’s black bars and a sturdy wall of bush in front of us, and I’m wondering where Asami is going with this as I remember that the garden is supposedly closed today.

“Asami…remember the whole ‘closed for an event’ thing?” I say, thinking about the sign.

“Yes. But I’m going to pull the spoiled heiress card today and say that this place is kind of mine by association. So if I want to show my friend around, I can most definitely do that,” Asami says with a sparkle in her eye.

“And if we get caught?” I say, raising an eyebrow.

“Then we run.” Asami shrugs as if it’s the most natural thing in the world.

All right, I can get down with this Republic City rebels vibe.

She takes a breath, and puts her hands on her hips. “All right. So, these bushes look thick, but they are actually really light. I know because I always used to jump through them as a kid. So we can just slip through these bars, plow through the bushes, and we’ll be in!”

Yeah, okay, cool.

She flashes me a bright smile and I scoff in return.

“Okay, Miss I-Don’t-Care-About-The-Rules. But if I get my face all cut up from branches, you will owe me big time,” I say, and I mean it. I don’t want to get all fucked up from rolling through the bushes like some kind of action hero.

“Don’t be a baby,” she says teasingly without looking at me, already poking her head between the bars and into the garden.

Well, here goes nothing.

“Hey, wait up!” I say as Asami tumbles through the bushes, and I dive in after her, bringing up my arm to shield my eyes from the leaves.

I land with a grunt flat on my ass, and greatly accept the hand that a smirking Asami is offering me, as I pull myself up to my feet.

I brush off my shoulders and puff out my chest.

“How bad ass was that?” I say to Asami smugly.

“So bad ass,” she says in a completely monotone voice, raising her eyebrow at me.

Sarcastic little shit.

I match her droll gaze before she finally cracks a smile, shaking her head as she motions me forward.

“Okay, funny girl, let’s go. Remember to keep quiet,” Asami says, bringing a finger to her lips to ensure my silence.

I nod in response, pretending to lock my lips shut with an imaginary key.

I follow Asami as she turns the first corner, and I almost burst out laughing as I come face to face with a bush sculpted to look like a polar bear dog. I mean, it’s super good craftsmanship and everything. But I really wasn’t expecting to see this.

“Look, it’s a polar bear dog!” Asami is beaming at me, and I can’t hold my laughter in any longer.

“What’s so funny?” she frowns a little, and I stop laughing to explain my outburst that probably appeared to be very rude, a fact that I’m just realizing now.

“I was just taken aback is all. This thing is so accurate that I’m in awe…like, it’s to scale and everything. Feels like I’m at home,” I say as I pat the side of the bush. “Except my polar bear dog is much softer.”

“What’s it’s name?” Asami asks me.

“Naga,” I say with a smile. “She’s been my best friend since I was a little girl. I’m the only one to have ever tamed a polar bear dog, you know.”

I can never resist an opportunity to show off for Asami, as we’ve established.

“I know,” Asami says, and before she continues I have to get a good rib in.

“Ah, so you’ve heard about me?” I say, raising an eyebrow for comedic effect.

She blushes a little, smirking. “Of course I’ve heard of you before all this. How could I not? You’re the Chief’s daughter!”

“But that’s a personal detail. You must have done your homework,” I say. I don’t want to let this go. It’s too much fun watching her get all nervous.

“Well…” she kicks the dirt around at her feet, finally meeting my eyes after a few moments. “Maybe I’ve gone out of my way to read a few things…”

“Ah-ha!” I twirl around, pumping my fist in victory. “You’ve totally stalked me before!”

Asami scowls. “I didn’t stalk you. I just wanted to know more about you! I didn’t mean to be weird or anything, and I—“

I decide to cut in and save her from more embarrassment. “It’s okay, I always made sure to steal the magazines and papers that had articles about you in them from my dad. And read them over and over. And/or admire the photos. So we’re both creepers. It’s meant to be.”

She laughs. “You know, with all the reading I did do, I still don’t know how you tamed Naga. Care to let me in on the secret?”

“Food,” I shrug. Food is usually the answer to everything.

When I don’t elaborate, Asami leans in, and expectant look on her face. “Yeah, and…?”

“She’s my taste-tester. So I gave her food and then she was totally chill with me. We’ve been inseparable ever since,” I say easily.

“What a harrowing story. The girl who tamed the wild, ferocious polar bear dog with home-baked goods,” she laughs. “She must have liked you besides the food, though. I’m pretty sure if I went up to a polar bear dog and threw it a piece of food I’d just get mauled or something.”

I laugh at her morbid response. “Jesus! I mean, I guess so. We just kinda clicked. I never got the feeling that she wanted to kill me, and she knew that I didn’t want to hunt her or anything like that. So we had an understanding.”

Asami is staring at me intently, tilting her head a bit.

 “That’s really cool,” she says softly.

“Mmm hmm..,” I say in response, admiring her admiring me, even though I probably look dumb because I know my cheeks are flushed and I’m kind of biting my lip a little.

Asami averts her gaze all of a sudden, closing the distance between us before looking up again, mere centimeters away from me.

I wipe my palms on my jeans because I’m sweating balls right now and what if she tries to hold my hand or something and---

 _her lips are on mine._ SHE’S KISSING ME. And if I thought winning a competition was the best feeling ever I was so fucking dead wrong, because this kiss is _unbelievable._ Asami’s lips are very soft, and her kiss is sweet and lingers just a bit before she pulls away, AND I WANT HER BACK but I don’t want to be forceful. So instead I just brush a finger over my lips, seeing if I can feel the little sparks that she left behind.

Asami clears her throat but I can’t put together a coherent sentence or thought as I fully realize that we  just had our first kiss. Like, Asami motherfucking Sato just kissed me.

“Was that…okay?” Asami says nervously.

I finally meet her eyes. She’s definitely blushing and her eyes are so expectant, and kind of worried, which is slightly funny to me because there isn’t a chance in the world that I would ever reject her.

“More than okay,” I say, a little breathless. “Perfect, actually.”

“Good. Because I’d like to do that again, if you don’t mind,” she says, and before the words are out of her mouth I have her in my arms, kissing her again. This time I’m on top of my game, so after a few slow, exploratory warm-up kisses I suck lightly on her bottom lip while placing my hand on the small of her back, guiding her body closer to mine.

She sighs into my mouth as she starts to return my gesture, nibbling softly on my lip in a way that makes my heart race and knees go completely weak. She seems to sense this as she pushes me back a little, guiding me towards somewhere more comfortable.

The back of my knees hit a bench and I sit down reflexively; Asami wastes no time in straddling me, holding my face as she kisses me while I hold her waist.

I can feel her smiling and it makes my heart skip a little. I lean up to taste more of her and she dips her head down towards me, slipping her tongue into my mouth, and I involuntarily groan.

My face heats up even more (didn’t think that was possible but it’s definitely happening) and Asami giggles as she pulls away.

“Liking this?” she says, running her thumb down my bottom lip before giving me a quick kiss.

“Loving this,” I say, reaching out a hand to guide her chin back towards mine when she freezes.

“Wait,” she says quietly, eyes widened as her eyes dart around. “Did you hear that?”

I’m really confused. I didn’t hear shit. “Are you making fun of me groaning?”

That’s when I hear a clang of metal and tense up too. “Oh…crap…what is that?”

Asami gets off of my lap gingerly, absentmindedly holding a hand out for me to pull myself up while she surveys the area intently.

I take it and join her in standing, frozen between wanting to escape but not wanting to make noise. I can begin to hear the sound of people talking now along with footsteps getting closer.

“Asami, we’ve got to get out of here,” I say in a hushed tone, and she nods fervently in agreement.

“This way,” she says as she tiptoes quickly and quietly towards an opening to our left.

I duck around the corner quickly and press my back against a brick wall, letting out a sigh.

“They almost got a free show, huh?” I say to Asami, wiggling my eyebrows.

“Almost,” Asami says, rolling her shoulders before placing her hand son her hips, at ease now that we’ve avoided being discovered. “Can’t say I would have minded, though.”

I quirk a brow. “So like, you’re into voyeurism?”

She shrugs. “Nah, because they’re not watching secretly or anything. More like I would totally have public sex with you and get turned on by people watching.”

“WHOA!” I say, completely taken by surprise. “You do realize that’s public indecency, right? Can’t you get arrested for that or something?”

Wait a second….did Asami just say she’d have sex with me? I’m not about to let that slide!!

“And also…you would have sex with me??!” I say with a huge smile before making my expression more neutral, less thirsty.

Asami runs a hand through her hair and sits down on the edge of a fountain in middle of the area we are in. “Well I would if you wanted to.”

She’s not meeting my gaze and she seems to be withdrawing a bit, quite a contrast from her bold words a few moments ago.

I sit next to her and nudge her knee with my own. “Of course I would want to. No question. But wouldn’t you want to wait? Till later in our relationship? Like, when slash if we become girlfriends?”

Contrary to my insatiable thirst I’m not just saying that to be polite.

And it’s not that she was implying that we should fuck _right now_ or anything, but I feel like she was being super forward with me. Which is fine, but it didn’t feel like it was really her. Especially when you consider the fact that just the other night she said she’d like to keep things platonic between us. I mean, she did very recently break up with Mako, and I _really_ don’t think she would use me as a rebound, but it’s best to talk about these things rather than avoiding them. Especially if we ever want to have a healthy relationship in the future.

“I would never make you do anything you were uncomfortable with. Never. But you’re not going to be here for long…” she trails off, and I let her gather her thoughts rather than interrupt.

“It’s just…I feel like we’ve got _something_ here, between us. I don’t know exactly what it is yet but it’s something strong. And I don’t know if I can have you for a lifetime, or even a few years. All I know is that I have you now, so I want to do everything with you in case we never get another try.”

No no no, I’m not going to tear up. No. Nope.

“That’s kind of why I planned today. It’s all the dates I’d want to go on with you packed into one day. And you’re going to meet my dad, and go to the market with me and…I really didn’t plan on kissing you, but it just happened. It felt right. And then once we did that, I realized that we might never have the chance to go further, so, hence the forwardness. Sorry.”

She sounds so fucking dejected. I wrap her into a hug and tuck her head under my chin.

“Listen, I’m not going anywhere,” I say to her, holding her close.

Of course, the little voice in my head asks me how that could ever be possible, and I mentally tell it to shut the fuck up.

I gingerly pull back a bit and lift Asami’s chin up to look at her. “And you don’t have to apologize. I think it’s sweet, the dates that you have planned for us. I want to make this day absolutely amazing for you.”

“Yeah?” Asami says, smiling gratefully at me.

“Yeah,” I return her smile, kissing her on the forehead, tip of her nose and lips.

“So when does the public sex part come in?” I say, deciding to add a little humor into the moment, and she nudges me, laughing.

“Let’s not bring that up ever again, okay?” she says, getting up as I follow suit.

“Ms. Sato, I don’t make promises that I can’t keep,” and I laugh as I dodge a smack that was coming for my arm.

I idly walk around the fountain, taking in my surroundings. We’re surrounded by beautiful fire lilies, bordered by tiny fences. On closer inspection I see that the fountain in the center of the area is made of stone. I watch as crystal clear water spouts from it’s top, cascading down three tiers before settling at the fountain’s base.

Everything smells like florals and sun, and the music is so bright and dare I say, romantic. It takes me a few seconds to remember that botanical gardens don’t usually have their own soundtrack.

“Asami, where is that music coming from?” I say, and when I don’t hear a response I turn around, looking for her.

She’s peering surreptitiously around the corner of the entrance that we came through, and I walk over to her to catch a glimpse of whatever is holding her attention.

It’s a small orchestra, intent on their sheet music, playing the tune that I was hearing. A small crowd goes through the steps of what looks like a wedding rehearsal, if the banner over the gazebo reading _Wedding Ceremony of Gazan and Ming-Hwa_ is of any indication.

We watch together as they wind the number to a close, and the wedding party claps before moving to the banner. They’re probably talking about decorations or something.

As they discuss, the pianist starts playing a light melody, and I get an idea.

“Asami, want to dance?” I say, flashing her a crooked grin.

“Okay,” Asami says, kind unsure as the song begins to pick up a bit.

I take her hand and place my other on her waist, she keeps talking as she places a hand on my shoulder.

 “Even though I really don’t know how to _dance_ dance. Like, ballroom dance,” she says.

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” I laugh, putting her at ease. “That’s part of the fun! I don’t know how either. We’ll be hot messes together. After all, no one’s watching. It’s just the two of us,” I say, smiling as the piano is joined by strings, playing a lilting waltz that makes me feel like we’re smack dab in middle of a fairy tale.

We move in time to the music, and our eyes are glued to each other. I keep smiling like an absolute dork but it earns me bright smiles from Asami in return, and I’m more than okay with that trade-off. We don’t even pause to look down when we trip over our own feet, instead just laughing at our clumsiness. I pull Asami close to me, breathing in her warm vanilla scent, better than all the flowers in this whole garden.

Asami maneuvers me around the fountain as I hear horns join the strings and piano. She twirls me, and we both dissolve into laughter. I can’t remember when I’ve ever had so much fun.

“Can I try to dip you?” I say.

“Why not? Go for it,” Asami says with a smile, and I tighten my grip on her waist before allowing her to slip back ever so slightly, and as she dips she keeps her eyes closed, lips parted slightly and hair cascading softly, my breath catches at her beauty.

The music comes to a climax I pull her back in, our bodies flush and her lips just a breath away from mine.

I close my eyes, turning my head slightly to lean in for a kiss when a man’s yell causes us to abruptly break apart.

“HEY! WADDYA TWO DOIN IN HERE! THE GARDEN’S CLOSED TODAY! I’M CALLING SECURITY!”

“Shit!” Asami says.

“Your timing SUCKS!” I yell at the guy, causing him to furrow his brows in anger.

“YOU AREN’T EVEN SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!” he shakes his fist at me.

I look around nervously, trying to think of an escape. The exits are all blocked by newly arrived park security, and getting caught is really not an option because I’m not about to spend the day separate from Asami. Also, we would probably get kicked out of the competition tonight. Which would be bad. So, I try to brainstorm a way out of this.

 I could say that Asami and I are the ones getting married and that they shouldn’t be trying to kick us out of our own rehearsal. OR…I could use the fountain to my advantage.

Choosing to go with the latter option, I bend a good amount of water out of the fountain and throw it over my shoulder, turning it into ice to create a flat arc, like a slide basically, that can get us up and out of the wedding rehearsal area.

“Asami!” I say, and she comes over to me quick. I boost her up to the top of the ice slide and she pulls me up with her, and with a push we both shoot over security’s heads, landing safely on the other side.

There’s no time for talking as we rush to get out the way we came in, through the bushes and the bars.

“DON’T LET THOSE STREET RATS GET AWAY WITH TRESPASSING!” I hear a voice yell a distance behind us.

Asami is laughing gleefully as we make our escape. “Street rat!” she says happily between breaths. “I’ve never been called that before!”

“Yeah, I’m using to being called crazy bitch, street rat is new,” I add in, laughing along with Asami as we slip out through the bushes and bars and tumble out onto the curb.

Asami lands on her butt and leans back a bit, propping herself up with her elbows, and I take the opportunity to slide over to her and straddle her, scooping her up into a swift kiss.

“I feel like that married criminal duo from the movers,” I say, and that only sends her into another burst of laughter.

“Because we broke into my mom’s garden during a wedding rehearsal? Yeah, we’re hardened criminals, all right,” she shakes her head wistfully, smiling as her laughter dies down.

“Hey, I don’t know about you, but I take the title of Street Rat very seriously,” I say, crossing my arms and grinning broadly.

She reaches up to tickle my stomach and I dissolve into giggles, trying to squirm away from her. “Don’t you-DARE-tickle—ASAMI!”

In a moment the tables are turned and now she’s on top of me, her hair falling to one side of her head as she peppers my face with kisses.

“Mmmm…” I say as I close my eyes, soaking up everything that she’s giving me.

She snorts lightly. “Cutie.”

Asami pulls away and I groan in response, reaching towards her but she swats my hands away, and takes out a piece of paper from her purse.

“One date down, three to go. Are you ready?” she says, raising an eyebrow.

“So ready,” I say, standing up.

Asami gets up to hail a taxi but I grab her arm. “I have a better way to get there.”

I crouch down a little and point to my shoulders. “Get on!”

Asami looks surprised. “Really?”

I nod. “Really really. Just point me in the right direction to wherever we’re going next!”

Asami seems to think about it for a second. “Well…okay. We’re only a few minutes away from the factory. Are you sure I’m not too heavy?”

“Asami, I’m ripped. I can handle you. Don’t worry!”

She goes behind me and loops her arms loosely around my shoulders and I grab her legs, lifting her into a piggy back ride.

“See? Easy. Where to, captain?” I say.

“That way!” Asami points to the left, and I take off, ignoring the strange looks from passerby’s as Asami laughs.

They’re probably just jealous anyway. Who wouldn’t be? I’m having the best day _ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter is all right, I obviously had writers block for like 3 months it so I'm not too fond but who knows. at least its out of the way. 
> 
> Also, the music playing while they dance is the Waltz from the Princess Diaries aka best song ever besides the LOK Book 4 ending theme
> 
> Listen to the waltz [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxcXCwPeaOs)
> 
> Also find me on [Tumblr!](http://www.thechosenavatar.tumblr.com/)


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